THE REWATCHABLES · September 29, 2020
A 1997 thriller / mystery directed by David Fincher, covered in the complete Rewatchables archive.
ON THIS EPISODE
FROM THE CONVERSATION
WHY IT WORKS
WHAT DID NOT WORK
SCENES THEY KEPT COMING BACK TO
Sean Penn needles Nick with weird, aggressive, funny lines that establish the movie's unstable energy.
About 24 minThe eerie television message announces the rules and kicks off the film's paranoia.
About 24 minThe run through CRS and the return with cops to an empty building is praised as an intense set piece.
About 32 minThe hotel-room sequence, with the key, the room-service tension, and the porn/coke reveal, is singled out as a great escalation.
About 32 minThe return home and glowing graffiti are praised as visually cool and memorable.
About 32 minThe frantic chase, including the dog pursuit and dumpster jump, is treated as fun and memorable.
About 24 minThe reveal at the cafeteria and the final airport escape are treated as the movie's strongest stretch.
About 24 minWHERE THEY DISAGREED
Speaker not identifiedSaid the final third fell apart.
Bill SimmonsThinks the ending is satisfying and even great.
Chris RyanThinks the ending works even if it is not logically airtight.
Bill SimmonsWould hate it and be angry afterward.
Sean FennesseyWould hate the loss of control and the life-threatening parts.
Chris RyanWould not enjoy it, especially if married or emotionally exposed.
Bill SimmonsMichael Douglas wins because the movie is built around his star vehicle.
Chris RyanSean Penn wins because the role is so electric and hard to cast well.
Sean FennesseyLeans toward Douglas and Fincher as the larger winners, though not decisively.
Bill SimmonsNo, the movie depends on a pre-search-engine world.
Sean FennesseyAgrees it is a late-90s thriller built on obsolete communication habits.
Chris RyanAgrees and notes Yellow Pages, phone traces, and bank verification would kill the plot now.
Calls it a really good movie and a strong litmus test for liking the movies Fincher disavows.
Opening minutesArgues that Fincher is underrating it and that it is closer to one of his best films than one of his worst.
Opening minutesSays the ending is satisfying and he loves the last 20 minutes of the movie.
Opening minutesFrames Douglas as the last great version of this kind of unraveling, wealthy lead before his later career shift.
Opening minutesDescribes Douglas as a star whose persona was built on being successful but vulnerable, and on playing characters whose power is violated.
About 8 minSays the final scene with Deborah Kara Unger and White Rabbit gives him chills and is a key reason the ending works.
Opening minutesReveals Sean Penn's performance and establishes the movie's off-kilter energy immediately.
About 24 minChooses the main chase through CRS and the return to the empty building with cops as his favorite sequence.
About 32 minSays Douglas playing racquetball in slow motion is a favorite moment and raises an unanswerable question about his athleticism.
About 32 minLikes her casting story and supports the idea that her vibe made her the right choice.
About 32 minThe film is read as a movie about a rich man being stripped of certainty and pushed through a manufactured crisis.
About 8 minThey interpret the film as a meta-story about how movies manipulate audiences with information, twists, and spectacle.
About 8 minThe discussion frames Douglas as a signature late-80s/90s star playing wealthy, vulnerable, often unpleasant men.
Opening minutesThe hosts note that the plot depends on a pre-search-engine, pre-smartphone world where this scheme could function.
About 16 minThe movie is treated as a surreal, twilight-zone-style allegory rather than strict realism.
About 8 minFincher reportedly disowned the film and said the third act falls apart.
Opening minutesRoger Ebert gave the movie three and a half stars and praised its paranoid vision.
About 24 minThe film grossed about $109 million on a $70 million budget.
About 24 minThe Criterion laserdisc reportedly includes an alternate ending where Nick simply walks away.
About 40 minSpike Jonze appears as a paramedic in the ending.
About 40 minThe private-eye/authority actor in the movie was also in Seven.
About 40 minThe movie was originally planned earlier with Jonathan Mostow, Kyle MacLachlan, and Bridget Fonda.
About 32 minJodie Foster was once attached and later sued Polygram over the project.
About 32 minDaniel Schorr is singled out as a newscaster cameo that helps the movie switch on.
About 48 minThe hosts joke that the game's budget and permits would be impossible to manage in real life.
About 56 minUsed as the immediate Fincher predecessor and a comparison point for style and dark tone.
Opening minutesCited as the later Fincher film he was able to make after The Game.
About 16 minUsed as an example of a Fincher movie that may not fully work but remains endlessly watchable.
About 16 minA comparison for the film's premise of an awful thing happening to a confused protagonist.
About 8 minThe film is repeatedly framed as a Scrooge-style ghost story for Nick.
About 8 minUsed as the archetype of the kind of Douglas character this movie revisits.
Opening minutesCited as part of Douglas's run of privileged-man-under-siege roles.
About 8 minAnother Douglas-era movie used to describe his star persona and movie choices.
About 8 minMentioned as a Douglas film about a man unraveling under pressure.
About 8 minReferenced as Deborah Kara Unger's audition material and as evidence of her offbeat career choices.
About 32 minUsed as an example of an older, rewatchable movie that depends on obsolete tech like payphones and cash.
About 16 minMentioned as a benchmark for huge 1990s budgets when estimating the game's cost.
About 56 min · medium confidenceCited as another film that would not work the same way in the internet era.
About 16 minUsed as an example of the kind of antihero role that replaced Michael Douglas parts on television.
About 8 minReferenced for Sean Penn's cameo and playful self-awareness near the end of his career.
About 24 minBill and Sean joke that the Philadelphia 76ers' recent troubles were all part of 'the game' and tease Chris with fake conspiracy therapy.
About 8 minBill and Sean riff on the phrase as a fun horror-movie-style line and recurring reaction phrase.
About 32 minThey repeatedly shorten Deborah Kara Unger to DKU and joke about her as a recurring fascination.
About 32 minThe hosts repeatedly guess the total cost of the fake game and argue about what level of expense is plausible.
About 56 minThe conversation detours into favorite birthday meals, with Bill discussing brujols and stuffed shells.
About 1:04“movie happening to a guy”About 8 min
“I'm a goddamn human piñata!”Opening minutes
“they fuck you and they fuck you”About 40 min
“This is your game, Nicholas”About 24 min
“the real fucking starts”About 40 min
MAKE IT A MOVIE NIGHT
WHAT TO WATCH NEXT
Three movies to watch before The Game, and three to watch next.
ON THE MIC
Bill SimmonsThe Rewatchables
Chris RyanThe Rewatchables
Sean FennesseyThe RewatchablesREWATCH FAVS
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