The Outcome of ‘Game’ Is Among Many Surprises

In “The Game,” a stiff and controlled investment banker (Michael Douglas) plays the game of a lifetime when his brother (Sean Penn) gives him a gift certificate from Consumer Recreational Services for his 48th birthday. (Rated R.)

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When uptight San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton gets a birthday present from his ne’er-do-well brother, Conrad, Nicholas comments that he doesn’t like surprises. Well, too bad. From then until the final frame, he is strapped into a roller coaster of a mystery full of unpredictable characters, life-threatening situations and psychological pitfalls.

That was fortunate for 10-year-old Ryan Rozar of Corona del Mar. “I like plot movies, and that was a good one,” he said. “It was all surprise.”

What he liked best, Ryan said, “was the way you never knew who was the good guy and who was the bad guy.”

We do know from an early montage that Nicholas is the older son of a distant father who committed suicide by jumping off the roof of their home. By now, Nicholas is divorced and a workaholic.

When Nicholas investigates his brother’s gift, he finds strangely distracted personnel in a shiny high-rise who administer a set of psychological and physical tests. The point, he is told, is to provide him with a custom-tailored “game” that will provide a “profound life experience” and make his life fun again.

Even 10-year-olds could tell from the ominous music and dimly lit scenes this was not going to be as simple as it sounds.

Kelly Fox, 10, of Anaheim Hills liked the film but found it “kind of confusing.” What’s more, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for Nicholas as he becomes the target of high-tech terrors in his home, his car and on the piers of San Francisco.

“They were treating him so mean throughout the movie,” she complained. “I thought it was kind of rude.”

Most of the kids found Douglas convincing as the besieged Nicholas Van Orton.

His only ally appears to be a waitress (Deborah Kara Unger) he follows after she spills drinks on him at his club. But can he trust her? Or anyone, for that matter? Who is in the game and who isn’t? Is he ever alone, or are “they” always watching?

It all becomes clear at the final, totally unexpected plot twist, Kelly said.

But other kids probably would agree with Douglas’ character that there is indeed such a thing as too many surprises.

“I didn’t like the super surprise ending,” said Aaron Keefe, 13, of Mission Viejo. “It was too sudden.”

In fact, he didn’t care for the entire movie. “It was really depressing. His life gets ruined.

“It was just a weird movie.”

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Parent Perspective: The R-rated movie includes a fair amount of adult language, violence and references to masturbation and animal torture in psychological tests.

Parents tended to agree that their own children were mature enough to handle the content, but younger children might find it too intense, boring or confusing.

Cathy Fox of Anaheim said her children had seen similar movies before. “For them, it wasn’t a problem. But I don’t think most kids would understand it.”

She found herself explaining the plot to her 10-year-old daughter from the first frames of the film.

Rick Rozar of Corona del Mar said his children might have been able to explain the plot to him: “Once in a while I got lost.” As far as violence, he said, “It was all so comic strip, I really wasn’t concerned.”

Lisa Morse of Mission Viejo said she wasn’t worried about any negative impact on 13-year-old Aaron. But she agreed with him that the film itself was extremely unrealistic and disappointing.

“I could definitely have passed on this movie.”

* FAMILY FILMGOER, Page 17