A Snowy Romp for ‘Reindeer’ Team

The premiere screening of John Frankenheimer’s thriller “Reindeer Games” at the El Capitan in Hollywood was followed by a party at the club Blue on Las Palmas. And although it was raining and cold Monday night, nothing prepared guests--including the film’s stars Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron, Clarence Williams III and Isaac Hayes--for the snow on the sidewalk outside the club.

In line with what one Miramax executive called the “dead-of-winter-in-a-Michigan-bar” theme--antlers on the wall; old “Rockford Files” episodes on TV monitors; wait staff dressed in plaid, flannel shirts--was the menu, which included cold-cut sandwiches on white bread, chili, chicken wings and Affleck’s character’s favorites: hot chocolate and pecan pie.

When asked about working with the new wave of twentysomething stars like Affleck and Theron, veteran director Frankenheimer, who just turned 70, fired back: “Well, don’t forget, the older generation of actors, when I worked with them, they were the new generation too. I worked with Warren Beatty when he was 26, younger than Ben is now. It’s wonderful to work with good actors, no matter what generation.”

Bob Weinstein, head of Dimension Films, the division of Miramax behind “Reindeer Games,” had nothing but praise for Frankenheimer. “It’s an honor to work with a guy like that. He’s a legend and he’s still cookin’ after all these years.”