Posted by Torgo at aca6c18e.ipt.aol.com on July 21, 2000 at 05:55:10:
"Reindeer Games". Is a terrible, soul sucking, incubus of a movie with no redeeming quality.
"Reindeer Games" single handedly killed something inside of me. When I got out of the theater, I looked the same, but something had changed. Something inside of me had died.
"Reindeer Games" is the kind of movie that seems to hate you; to wish you active harm; to kick sand in your eyes and make you cry. I found this movie to be the Deepest of Hurting: like watching bacteria grow in extra-slow motion.
"Reindeer Games" shoots right to the top of the list of one of the worst movies I've seen in the theater. It is one of those movies that makes one wonder how, with movie making being such a formidable task, requiring so much drive and vision, could an individual choose to put it up on the screen. Could it be as bad as I'm describing? The short answer is yes. However, the more though out longer answer is also yes.
John Frankenheimer, you just don't have it anymore. You had it for a little while, but then you lost it. "Birdman of Alcatraz", "The Manchurian Candidate" and "Grand Prix" were great films. However, they do not excuse "The Holcroft Covenant", "Dead Bang", "Year of the Gun" and "Island of Dr. Moreau". You were lucky you were not brought up on charges against humanity for "Island of Dr. Moreau". That movie rivals Vietnam as one of the darkest chapters in American history. The pain inflicted upon all of us who saw it will never go away. All we can do is keep living. One day at a time. Hopefully, someday someone will introduce legislation that would ensure that something like that never happens again on our shores.
Now, I move on to the writer, Ehren Krueger. Between "Arlington Road," "Scream 3" and "Reindeer Games" I can only assume that he is an idiot. He should be stopped. He does nothing but harm. What needs to be done is tie him to a chair with Akiva Goldsman and set fire to both of them and watch as their bodies burn. But, I'm getting off the point. The movie does not fail due to Ben Affleck. Ben Affleck is a gorgeous man, better than myself in nearly every way, I think. Chiseled from Florentine marble, smart as whip, rich as Croesus, strong as bear, the ladies love him.
Unfortunately, the chemistry between him and Charlize Theron is nonexistent. Usually I don't notice things like "chemistry", unless it is so excruciatingly absent. Two cinder blocks propped next to each other would have more chemistry.
This movie hurt me and will go on hurting until it is stopped. Everyone involved with the making of this film should be sent to camps where they will be tortured and shown the error of their ways. They will only be allowed to leave if and when they sign a document stating that they will never create anything ever again that will be seen by the public. Am I being unfair? No.
Also, there is a line in the movie where Gary Sinise says to Ben Affleck "Don't play any reindeer games with me." What the hell does that even mean?