David Fincher‘s most mischievous (and, in some ways, his most cruel) film to date stars Michael Douglas as a modern-day Scrooge of sorts who’s given an odd birthday present by his ne’er-do-well brother (Sean Penn), a sort of elaborate role-playing game that soon takes a sinister turn when he finds his bank account emptied and his body shot at. Douglas’ journey is a mind-bending odyssey where it’s never quite clear what’s real or what’s part of the “game” (to either him or us), or who’s an actual person or a “player” — or if there’s, indeed, any difference at all. The Game is a trickster of a film, one big cinematic magic act that keeps you guessing until, literally, the very last frame; it’s also sometimes unnecessarily mean-spirited, an “intervention” film that tends to go overboard (or — heh heh — does it?) — which, if nothing else, makes it quite the interesting companion piece to Fincher’s previous morality tale, Se7en. However you want to take it, the final (OR IS IT?) revelation may make or break your opinion of the entire film — and either way, this is definitely a Game worth playing.