There are movies so goofy, likable or charming that you can cut them some slack for their dopey plots. And then there are movies like "Reindeer Games."
That's not to say that this failed thriller isn't goofy, that it never approaches likability or that is doesn't have a certain charm. But the film is also so preposterous and has such a mean-spirited, malicious current running through it, that it's hard to swallow.
And it's fast becoming evident that screenwriter Ehren Kruger's work is going to be plagued with such problems. "Arlington Road," his debut film, started promisingly enough but eventually succumbed to the screenplay's many contrivances. Then, his "Scream 3" script read like a bad knock-off of Kevin Williamson . . . which, of course, it was.
His script for "Reindeer Games" isn't any better, though the film should be, considering it comes from John Frankenheimer, a director with an established track-record in the genre. (Among Frankenheimer's works are such classic thrillers as "Seven Days in May" and "The Manchurian Candidates.")
Unfortunately, what we get here is later-period Frankenheimer; his most recent films have included the awful 1996 remake of "The Island of Dr. Moreau" and "Ronin," which only partially succeeded — and primarily for just one exciting scene.
So, perhaps it's lucky that Kruger and Frankenheimer have such a talented cast working for them.
Ben Affleck stars as Rudy Duncan, a car thief due to be released from jail during the Christmas holiday.
Coincidentally, so is his cellmate, Nick (James Frain), who's supposed to meet his beautiful penpal, Ashley (Charlize Theron), upon his release. However, during a jail scuffle, Nick is fatally knifed by another inmate.
So, when Ashley shows up at the jail on the fateful day, Rudy has a dilemma — should he tell her that Nick is dead or should he pretend to be Nick? Not too surprisingly, he opts for the latter, which turns out to be the wrong choice.
Though their initial meeting is pretty passionate, it turns out that Ashley is being followed by her psychopathic, gun-running, truck-driver brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise), who believes Rudy is Nick and that he has inside knowledge of a nearby casino he plans to rob.
Explaining the truth doesn't seem to be an option, since Gabriel won't take no for an answer. Worse, there's evidence to suggest that Ashley may be in on the scheme.
Like "Arlington Road," the story here is filled with elaborate double- and triple-crosses. But they make even less sense. And the attempts at humor are forced, while the ending is unbelievably dopey.
To Frankenheimer's credit, there are a couple of tense sequences involving an icy lake and the actual casino holdup. But he's unable to sustain the tension, which leaves it up to the cast to give the movie more credence that it deserves.
Affleck makes an appealing, physical lead, while Theron is just enigmatic enough. But Sinise is a bit over-the-top, as is Dennis Farina, in a brief stint as the casino manager.
"Reindeer Games" is rated R for violence, including beatings and gunplay, profanity, graphic gore, female and brief male nudity, simulated sex and use of crude slang terms.