Reindeer Games

Interesting plot, great Charlize and her transformation, also good Sinise, who suits the villain roles. Overall, it would have been a decent thriller if not for the twist at the end. Although it is surprising, it’s also quite illogical and brings down the final rating. But still a satisfied three stars. (06/07/2005)

Someone here really messed up here (namely the writer). Even the more than decent cast can't make up for such a stupid, predictable and mostly boring plot. (21/09/2002)

John Frankenheimer slowly said goodbye to the film world, and two years after the excellent Ronin, he embarked on a story that mixes the tired heist genre with the master's favorite action. Unfortunately, he didn't succeed and we, his fans, can only be glad that he still managed to repair his reputation with a mini-contribution to the Hire series. Reindeer Games could have been quite interesting at first, but Ben Affleck doesn't make these passages very watchable with his reliable non-acting. As the film progresses, all the interestingness fades away and boredom sets in, spiced with illogical scripted atrocities and topped off with a final ridiculous action in the casino (Oh my God, this was filmed by THE John Frankenheimer? The one with the rum pistol?) and the last twist, which was also ridiculous. So the disappointment was great... And I wasn’t even expecting a great film. (02/03/2012)

I feel exactly the same way about this film after twenty years as at the time it was made. Underwhelmed. I watched the film again because I couldn't believe that such a cast wouldn’t have done better than that. Well, they couldn't. The script was so weird that not even a stellar cast could have saved it, not to mention that they were held back by Ben Affleck's notoriously wooden performance. One of the two stars goes to Charlize Theron, who, besides giving a decent acting performance, was also a sight for sore eyes. (03/11/2020)