Susan Granger’s review of “REINDEER GAMES” (Dimension Films/Miramax)
Ehren Kruger’s screenplay must have read better on paper because the film, directed by John Frankenheimer, lies like a bleak lump of coal in a Christmas stocking. Ben Affleck plays a convicted car thief whose cellmate (James Frain) in a cold Michigan prison has a gorgeous penpal girlfriend, Charlize Theron, whom he met through a lonely hearts magazine. When the cellmate dies in a food fight, Affleck assumes his identity, getting the sexy girlfriend but also her psychotic older brother (Gary Sinese), a small time crook who wants his help in taking down the Tomahawk Casino on Christmas Eve. His bizarre scheme includes having his grungy gang dressing up like Santa Claus with the “ho, ho, ho” becoming a heist. From the beginning, wholesome Ben Affleck, who always seems to look like an aging frat boy, is miscast in this cartoonish saga of betrayal, particularly as when openly yearns for a cup of cocoa and slice of pecan pie. Beautiful Charlize Theron has enough charisma for both of them, along with an ability to convince men to believe anything she says, particularly when she flashes her bare breasts. And no one can do a buffed, tattooed, over-the-top nutcake like Gary Sinese. But the dim-witted plot consists of a fast-paced series of intricate double-crosses that stretch from the barely plausible to the patently ridiculous. And the absurd ending, literally, had people laughing in disbelief. Fortunately, Ehren Kruger has Arlington Road and Scream 3 under his belt and John Frankenheimer will be best remembered for Seven Days in May and The Manchurian Candidate. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, Reindeer Games is an icy, idiotic, illogical 3. My advice: don’t play. Christmas has come and gone – just as this movie will.
