REINDEER GAMES

Name: REINDEER GAMES
Item: REINDEER GAMES
Author: Review

"Won’t Go Down in History"

Family Content: -3 Excessive sex, violence, immorality, and/or worldview problems. (Sometimes excessive content such as violence is in otherwise redemptive movies.)

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

In REINDEER GAMES, Ben Affleck plays an ex-con named Rudy mistaken for his cellmate Nick. Nick’s pen-pal girlfriend Ashley seduces Rudy, and the next thing Rudy knows, he is involved in a plot to rob an Indian-owned casino. Rudy has to constantly think on his feet to free himself from this crime he doesn’t want to commit. Along the way, twists and turns occur, resulting in five men dressed as Santa Claus ending up dead.

Director John Frankenheimer has made a great movie, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, a good movie with the recent RONIN and now a clunker with REINDEER GAMES. Known for his usual cool precision and fascination with the mechanics of suspense, Frankenheimer has traded in the real deal for a cartoon copy. His movie has chases and explosions, but he directs it in a lazy manner, with too many clichés. Morally, the movie is mainly reprehensible. There are lots of low-life cons, ex-cons, thugs, and guns, and a three-timing woman who services whoever is convenient. Also included is lots of violence and obscenity use. The only moral thing of this movie is a recognition that Christmas is Christ’s birth. Here’s hoping that Frankenheimer’s next movie won’t try to snow you over.

Content:

(PaPa, C, LLL, VVV, SS, NN, A, D, M) Pagan worldview of criminals with a slight recognition of Christ being the meaning of Christmas; 43 obscenities, 17 profanities & man rebukes man for using profanity; strong violence including shootings, beatings, explosions, two brief images of car hitting men, stabbing, man lights other man on fire, couple falls under ice & nearly drowns, & rioting; two brief fornication scenes & some heavy kissing; upper female nudity, rear male nudity & woman in underwear; alcohol use; smoking; and, lying & manipulation.

More Detail:

Director John Frankenheimer has made a great movie, THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, a good movie, with the recent RONIN, and now a clunker with REINDEER GAMES. Known for his usual cool precision and fascination with the mechanics of suspense, Frankenheimer has traded in the real deal for a cartoon copy of a thriller. With goofy characters, lightweight leads and twists and turns that don’t incite intrigue, Rudolph needn’t worry about not being included in these games.

Starring pretty-bland pretty-boy Ben Affleck, as ex-con Rudy (get it?), the movie begins with an episode of mistaken identity outside a northern Michigan prison. There, Ashley (Charlize Theron) and Rudy meet, but Ashley thinks Rudy is Nick, Rudy’s cell mate, and a man to whom she has been writing. Rudy plays along, tells Ashley that he is Nick, and the two are soon fornicating in a seedy hotel. Later, Ashley’s gun-smuggling brother, Monster (Gary Sinise), shows up with a pack of thugs and demands that Rudy (as Nick) help them rob an Indian Casino up North.

Rudy tries to tell Monster and Ashley that he is not Nick and doesn’t know anything about the casino, but Monster won’t take no for an answer. Eventually, Rudy has to constantly think on his feet as he gets himself inextricably tied up in this crime, a crime he doesn’t want to commit, but must participate in to survive. Along the way, twists and turns occur, resulting in five men dressed as Santa Claus ending up dead.

Because Affleck is such a favorite with many young American women right now, this movie had a stronger opening weekend than it deserved. It has chases and explosions and many things an action fan would want including all the clichés of a bad Van Damme movie. Frankenheimer knows better and seems to be directing this one with a lazy hand. The only interesting character is Sinise as monster, and even his character is very much from the land of goofball villains. Furthermore, many residents of Northern Michigan may notice that the land that claims to be Michigan in this movie is actually from farther North and to the West: Vancouver, British Columbia. Even the scenery is an imposter.

Morally, the movie is mainly reprehensible. Lots of low-life cons, ex-cons, thugs, and guns, complete with a three-timing woman who services who ever is convenient to get her own way. Thankfully, there aren’t drugs involved in this mess to further make things ugly. The only moral thing of this movie is a recognition that Christmas is Christ’s birth. In one scene, a man uses profanity and another tells him to stop it because of Christmas and the Christ child. Since the success of RONIN, Frankenheimer has a multi-picture deal with Miramax. Here’s hoping that his next movie won’t try to snow you over.