I’m not sure why this didn’t have more success on its theatrical release. On the surface it was a bit of a strange career move for David Fincher, coming straight off the success of Seven. And maybe the public had got sick of seeing Douglas playing stressed-out businessmen after Basic Instinct and Disclosure. But what they all missed was a clever plot (written by John D. Brancato, Michael Ferris and an uncredited Andrew Kevin Walker), cleanly directed (and photographed by Harris Savides, with some help from Jeff Cronenweth, presumably one of Jordan’s relatives) and convincingly acted.

Douglas seems to have an endless appetite for trying to win our sympathy for unsympathetic characters, Penn does well in a role that only takes up a few minutes of screen time, and Deborah Kara Unger is very good as a waitress who turns out to be not quite what she seems. Trivia: Unger’s room-mate is played by Linda Manz, best known as the child actress from Days of Heaven.

Admittedly it’s not a particularly unusual plot, having been done very similarly in Stephen King’s short story Quitters Inc. (filmed with James Woods in Cat’s Eye), but the improvement here is that the ending is exciting and oddly moving, despite being telegraphed from the first few minutes. I’m still not convinced that the plot mechanics made any sense; too many times Douglas takes a certain path of action which turns out to be EXACTLY the one predicted by CRS, and consequently the resolution seems more than a little contrived. This is a fault the movie shares with Seven, but it also improves on that movie in that it takes itself seriously without becoming desperately cynical.

In fact, the nature of the movie only becomes apparent in the final few scenes: it’s not a game played with the aim of punishing Van Orton for his sins, but rather a game which will give him a chance of redemption and a new start. In that way it’s diametrically opposed to Seven. It’s also a little ponderous at times, having none of the flashy editing employed by Fincher in his previous movies and videos, but all with the best intentions. Stylish, thoughtful and much better than I expected.

Mild Peril Rating:

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