Review of Reindeer Games (2000) by Rick R — 19 Dec 2009

Reindeer Games (2000).

Like "Die Hard", here's another guy's Christmas movie. John Frankenheimer directed this somewhat standard yet entertaining action movie. When you think of it as sort of a modern film noir where the hero is insnared in a doomed situation that he can't really escape.

Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) is soon to be released from Iron Mountain Prison from a 5 year stint for stealing cars. He's been spending months listening to his cellmate Nick Cassidy (James Frain) reading pen-pal letters and showing photos of this girl, Ashley (Charlize Theron) he's been corresponding with in jail.

A couple of days before both of them are released, Nick gets shanked in a prison riot and Rudy is in such a state where he can't resist the urge to assume Nick's identity to get with Ashley. Things seem to be going pretty good, until Ashley's Brother, Gabriel (Gary Sinise) and his crew show up in their hotel room.

Gabriel has been reading Nick's letters too, especially the part where Nick worked at an Indian casino and how lax the security is during Christmas eve. Despite Rudy trying to explain that he's not really Nick, he must go along with their plan to rob the casino, or get killed in the process, although he pretty much is assured that he won't live long after the robbery.

Rudy isn't sure about Ashley either. She isn't who she says she is either and she has been manipulating Nick (Rudy) to help Gabriel with the casino heist. Other great characters are Jack Bangs (Dennis Farina) as the frustrated casino manager who wishes he was back in Vegas, and one of Gabriels crew, hardened criminal type, Jumpy (Danny Trejo) who has been taking night courses and spouts financial theory. Finally, Ashton Kutcher has a small walk-in part too.