Sunday, September 28, 1997 — North Shore News — 27 Pour Douglas is a le AT do you get the an who has every- ing? Why a trip to Il and back of urse. And that is exactly what Slcimillionaire Nicholas Orton (played by chael Douglas) is to eive on his 48th birthday, David Fincher’s The ite. § Into town rolls Nicholas’ , strung out little broth- @ Conrad Van Orton, ed masterfully by Sean n. “What do you get for the who has everything?” ee Answering his own ques- fn, Conrad pulls out of his et a gift certificate for sumer Recreational ices (C.R.S), and hands ver to his older brother. “They will change your in much need of a mnge from his cold, corpo- we lifestyle, Nicholas reluc- atly accepts the gift. What rad fails to mention is ft it could change his life reatly that he may no per exist. aaintrigued, Nicholas pays. sit to the C.R.S.-office, sre they promise to pro- ::“whatever’s lacking” h:a game tailored to fill eds, And thus The we; and Nicholas’ subse- ‘descent into hell, icholas soon discovers ¢ is not playing any ed tein mond 108-11400 Bridgeport © One block west of No.5 Rd. ....... seeeeee COMMUNICATIONS wc. Chris Dembiske ordinary game. The game is a series of physically and psychologically challenging situations that are infiltrated into his reality. As time goes by, the game becomes more and more real. Inevitably, Nicholas ends up fighting for both his life and sanity. David Fincher, the direc- tor of this highly-stylized psychological thriller, also directed Seven. It is The Game’s style, though, rather than the actual plot line, which really stands out.” Director of photography Harris Savides manages to capture the cold, dank feel of the San Francisco high- end corporate world. He also captures the feel of the 1950’s with home- movie footage of Nicholas as a child, making each shot a separate work of art. Unfortunately, style was almost all that this picture has to offer. Penn gives a convincing performance as Nicholas’ younger brother, Conrad, and the occasionally witty dialogue sparked laughter from the audience. Still, it 35 wasn’t enough to distract trom Douglas’ mediocre performance. Hf there is one thing that The Game taught me, it is that Michael Douglas can’t act his way our of a paper bag. His lack of feelin during the first half of the movie was essential to his role as a cold businessman, but as his character was sup- posed to change, Douglas’ acting did nor. Happy, sad, angry, or tired, Douglas delivered them ali in the same emo- tionless manner — a manner which made me want to stand up in the middle of the movie and yell, “Please, someone put the man out of his misery!” There was one particular scene where Douglas had just broken down in tears that were so fake, that rather than feel sympathy for the man, I wanted to jump in and slap him around a bit until he shed real tears. All in all, I do recom- mend The Game if only for the first half of the movie, in which Penn gives the greater part of his performance and where most of the footage from Nicholas’ childhood is used. The second half went quickly enough though, thanks to all the plot con- trivances used in order to finish the story within rwo hours. . The ending was supposed a ‘REE WEEKENDS | * $s ed . wa “NORTH VANCOUVER y 50-10330 152nd. St. * Across from Guildford . . Encouver Pacific Centre Mall * Dunsmuir Skywalk . botsford #4-32465 South Fraser Way * Across from Safeway ; “BCTEL 44 Mobility Centre “free Mon. - Fri. 9:00 - SUPERSTORE 1480 Marine Drive (across from Burger King) 990-9221 30 Sat. 10:00 - 5:00 . 278-4949 . .- 583-5708 . - 685-1001 859-1411 d: Free phone and $25.95 a month cellular plan based on a 36-month transferable contract. New customers only, OAC. A new group of Youth Views’ writers are ready for another season of writing in the North Shore News. The Leo Marshail Curriculum students are: Eli Blezard, John Busby, Dan Delgigiio, Chris Dembiske, Mark Gudmanz, Jamie Robinson, cal airtime: Uniimited free calls on weekends. 160 free evening minutes per month - just 10¢ a minute after that. Home Free ist de lacal calls to a BC TEL residential number. Free calls home applicable only to calls made on the BC TEL Mobility network. One Pian: New 36-month contracts required on both primary phone and secondary $9.95 phone. Secondary phone shares ¥ phone plan and appears on primary phone bill, Rate of 55¢ per minute during non-free daytime periods. Annual radio system of $48, long distance charges and taxes extra. Early cancellation fees apply on all 36-month contracts. Limited time offer. WI Sanderson and Anne-Marie Vassiliou. to be a surprise. I was hop- ing that it would be, just so Michael Dougias’ character would perhaps suffer some horrible fate. . In the back of my mind though, 1 knew what was oing to happen — typical lolly yood eedictabyity. If you can ignore Michael Douglas’ performance, which is next to impossible, the cinematography and Penn’s performance make it all worthwhile. a LYHM\ UL hey If that artsy fartsy crap isn’t what you look for in a movie, then there’s probably enough action in this movie to keep you going, but by no means is it spectacular. While The Game surely isn’t as much fun as a raging game of “Girl Talk,” what is? Chris Dembiske is a Grade 12 student enrolled in Video Production 12 at Leo Marshall Curriculum Centre. Many dust. iG minutes awa The Captain Says... Den’t invite strangers into‘ - your home. You just don’t know where they’ve been. Let The Captain sell your things for you. The tains Cousigoment Sales 1328 Marine Dr. N: Van. - 987-7321 :