Confusing script plays too many 'Games'

By Erin Podolsky

Daily Arts Writer

"Reindeer Games" is one of those unfortunate films that has missed its window of opportunity - and, worse yet, missed it in more ways than one. Originally scheduled for a Christmas 1999 release, a date infinitely more appropriate to the movie's content than where it now resides, it was moved for reasons known only to Swami Weinstein and the Miramax marketing department. So here it is, in all its thriller glory, released past its prime like an overcooked pot roast, charred on the outside, still raw on the inside and an unpleasant experience for all involved.

Not that I fault director John Frankenheimer for his efforts here, now; he made his mistake long ago, way back in the script stage, when somebody should have stepped up and made a decision about the material as written by Miramax poster-boy Ehren Kruger ("Scream 3," the upcoming Miramax Western tater-tot "Texas Rangers"). As it stands, "Reindeer Games" shifts wildly between by-the-book thrill-ride and edgy satire of a genre that Frankenheimer has devoted much of his career to chronicling, from the sparklingly tragic, sardonic "The Manchurian Candidate," still as fresh today as it was nearly 30 years ago, to 1997's post-traumatic Cold War syndrome tale "Ronin." The extremes that it finds itself caught up in are too much for its small-town, small-character feel, and there are consequences to be had with such folly.

The basic plot is something of a no-brainer, which might explain why Kruger and company were so floored by their own twisty brilliance. In a conference room somewhere, these guys are sitting around having a good laugh at just how smart they are, self-congratulatory cigars and backslaps all around. Boys, please stop partying. Mr. Kruger, you have now had three screenplays produced, and all three have included Big Fat Surprise Twist Endings. I fear for what you have in store with "Texas Rangers," but not so much as I fear having to watch your other movies a second time through.

Where was I? Oh yes, the story. Ben Affleck plays Rudy, a car thief who wasn't so good at thieving and so ended up in the clink for a few years. He is best buddies with cellmate Nick (James Frain), although dropping the soap seems to be kept entirely off-screen. Nick is set to meet his prison pen pal girlfriend Ashley (Charlize Theron) when he and Rudy are conveniently paroled at the same time despite the fact they apparently didn't know each other before playing in the pokey and aren't in for the same crime. Also conveniently, Nick gets shanked in the cafeteria during a this-food-sucks riot. Three guesses as to what Rudy does when he gets out and sees Ashley, beautiful, blond and waiting, alone outside the prison walls. "Reindeer Games" is a highly convenient movie. Conveniently so.

So now Rudy-pretending-to-be-Nick is banging Ashley's brains out (Attention, testosteronians! You must weigh your options carefully: Refuse to suffer through "Reindeer Games," or go nobly to see Theron in her birthday suit?) in a seedy motel five minutes after meeting her and, of course, failing to consider the ramifications of this little identity swap. If he'd had one moral fiber in his body, though, the rest of the film could not have happened, and so he continues to get some very pleasant non-prison sex until Ashley's brother, Gabriel (Gary Sinise, in previously unattempted scenery-chewing glory), shows up. Gabriel is a gun-runner trucked tired of logging miles, so he decides he's going to throw over a casino with Nick's help.

Of course, this particular Nick has no idea what Gabriel is talking about, so the rest of the film is devoted to Rudy alternately trying to convince Gabriel and his crew of merry men that he isn't Nick after all, trying half-heartedly to escape (he has many opportunities but seems to pass them all up for some unknown reason other than the film's running time), or thinking on his feet about how to dupe Gabriel into thinking he is Nick and knows the casino like the back of his hand. All this and he has to find time to shoehorn the announcement to no one in particular, "Never put a car thief behind the wheel!" I presume he says this in private because he knows that an audience would only snigger. He was right. The audience I saw this with chortled, until they realized what they were doing and started to groan.

As an added bonus for Michiganders, the casino that Gabriel wants to knock off is one of the ubiquitous Indian installations that we all love seeing billboards for. "Reindeer Games" takes place in the upper peninsula and unfortunately misses a great opportunity for fun by denying Sinise the pleasure of working his mouth around a yooper accent. It's a pity, because it might have actually sent the movie finally careening over the edge into self-parody, where it would have been a far more entertaining exercise. As it stands, "Reindeer Games" takes itself a little too seriously, failing to go all the way in its Christmas fun. I guess that's what happens when you try to have Christmas in February.