29 Years Ago, Sean Penn Broke Our Brains in This Cult Classic David Fincher Thriller

Sean Penn just took home a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for One Battle After Another (or he will, if he deigns to pick it up after being unable to, or simply choosing not to, attend the ceremony), which is a good excuse to look back at one of the most underrated movies in his long career. And, as a matter of fact, it happens to be one of the most underrated movies in the careers of everybody involved in it, including its director. The movie is the 1997 thriller The Game, which was seen as a massive early flop in the career of filmmaker David Fincher — despite the fact that it’s actually really awesome.

The Game was released after Fincher’s star-making Se7en, which was only his second film after his divisive debut Alien 3 (another movie that’s actually really awesome, for the record), and just a few years before his culture-destroying, widely misunderstood masterpiece Fight Club. Any movie would have a hard time competing with those films, and The Game ultimately made just about $100 million off of a reported $70 million budget — likely because of its reputation for just being a series of increasingly groan-inducing twists that leads to a dopey, unsatisfying ending. But, again, those opinions are wrong.

Who Does Sean Penn Play in ‘The Game’?​​​​​​​

The Game follows Michael Douglas as Nicholas Van Orton, a wealthy and unhappy banker. As his 48th birthday approaches, he is haunted by the death of his father, who died by suicide when he turned 48. Penn plays Nicholas’ brother, Connie, who presents him with an invitation to experience a bizarre, life-changing “game” run by a company called Consumer Recreation Services. Connie has apparently also done the CRS game and speaks very highly of it.

Douglas’ Nicholas is depicted as very cold and closed-off, which differentiates him from the vaguely manic energy that Penn brings to Connie. Penn essentially plays to type as the character, embracing the wild unpredictability that he had as a younger actor, which makes it difficult to know how much to trust him. Penn has a tendency to make his mere existence off-putting, which is used to great effect — albeit very differently — in both The Game and One Battle After Another. In The Game, you can see why Nicholas would want to trust him, because he’s so lonely and desperate for connections, but, as the story turns, you immediately recognize why Nicholas would believe that his brother would be wrapped up in this horrific “game.”

What Happens in ‘The Game’?

Nicholas undergoes an aggravating and intrusive application process, led by CRS employee James Rebhorn, but he is ultimately told that he has been rejected from the game. Of course, that’s part of the game, and things in his life quickly begin to spiral out of control. The game is eventually revealed to be an elaborate con designed to rob rich people like him, and Connie has been forcibly involved from the beginning.

One of the odd things about The Game, especially given the rest of David Fincher’s filmography, is that it has a somewhat shockingly upbeat and optimistic ending. But true Game-heads know that that’s the clue to the movie’s real intentions: It’s not a dark and twisty thriller like Se7en, it’s a full-on thrill ride. If you go in thinking Michael Douglas will somehow outsmart the game and win, you’ll be annoyed. If you go in thinking the game is borderline mystical and has infinite resources to blow on giving this lonely man his own Christmas Carol, you’ll have fun.