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'Reindeer Games' is a present not worth opening

Christopher Jivan

Somebody should have told the producers of "Reindeer Games" that Christmas only comes once a year. It might have saved them the time and effort it took to make this movie.

"Reindeer Games" is a film that tries to be hip, smart and fast - everything that makes a solid crime thriller good. But while some other crime thrillers succeed, "Reindeer Games" ultimately falls flat.

Ben Affleck plays Rudy Duncan, an ex-con just released from prison who meets up with Ashley, a blonde beauty poorly portrayed by Charlize Theron of "The Devil's Advocate."

Soon enough, Ashley's crazy brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise) shows up with an equally crazy scheme that involves Rudy, Ashley and a dangerous casino heist on Christmas Eve.

Along the way, the film tosses in a number of plot twists and turns that, for the most part, can be seen coming a mile away. Only about one or two surprises genuinely shock the audience, and even then it's nothing special.

While this partly comes from the script by Ehren Kruger ("Scream 3" and "Arlington Road"), most of it comes from the acting, which is so unnatural and bland, it's almost laughable.

Affleck and Theron have absolutely no chemistry. One minute Affleck is hot for her, the next he's cold - with no real explanation for why he keep's changing his mind so fast.

Theron's character, up until about the last 20 minutes of the story, is extremely pointless and even silly. She does a lot of standing around and worrying, as if her sole purpose is to look pretty for the camera.

Perhaps the filmmakers felt that by having her occasionally remove her top, this would make up for the fact that her character is poorly written.

It seems that writer Kruger was so caught up in his plot twists that he forgot to flesh out his characters.

Also, the story itself is nothing new. It's the same old, tired Hollywood crime thriller with only a few minor changes here and there that do little to disguise its unoriginality.

Worst of all is that the film relies so heavily on its plot twists that at the end the enemies have to come out and explain everything. It is reminiscent of those old James Bond films where the villains, just before putting Bond in a life-threatening situation, tell him all their evil plans and how they went about accomplishing them.

Unlike James Bond, though, "Reindeer Games" is relatively unexciting.

With the exception of a couple of stylized chase scenes, for which Frankenheimer is known (see "Ronin"), the action is rather dull.

In fact, there is never a feeling of jeopardy for Affleck. He is threatened so many times during the course of the film - mostly by a very un-intimidating Sinise - that early on the idea of him dying no longer has any meaning.

In the end, "Reindeer Games" is a film that substitutes a lot of sluggish chatter for much needed thrills. It is a movie that places young, hot stars in meaningless roles.

Quite simply, it is a big waste of talent that even Santa himself couldn't help save.