Customer Reviews

The Game of Death

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4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Game of Death is the latest film version of Robert Louis Stevenson's The Suicide Club. The Game of Death is well directed by Rachel Samuels and features an impressive cast: Jonathan Pryce, David Morrissey and Catherine Siggins. Beautifully photographed by Chris Manley on location in Ireland(substituting for 1899 London), it tells the story of Captain Henry Joyce(Morrissey)who joins the secret Suicide Club run by the mysterious Mr. Bourne(Pryce). The members of the club join for one purpose: to be murdered by another member of the club. Morrissey begins to regret his decision once he becomes involved with the sole female member of the club, Sara Wolverton(Siggins). This is an excellent choice for fans of Masterpiece Theater and the historical mysteries on Mystery. But be warned, this is a dark tale and features some graphic violence.

I'm having a hard time accepting that anyone could really like this one at all.

The Game of Death is very very loosely based on Robert Louis Stevenson's short story, The Suicide Club and Other Stories (which actually has three parts-- the first being The Story of the Young Man with the Cream Tarts, on which this film is based).

If you haven't read the book, you may want to-- I liked it years ago, but it's definitely not RLS's best work. However, if you haven't seen the film, please do yourself a favor and skip it.

The premise is fascinating-- those who wish to end their lives for whatever reason may do so here. Rather than killing themselves if they are too reluctant to do so, they pay for their "murder", thereby not bringing shame upon their families (and getting a "proper" burial, too). The catch is, of course, that their 'turns' are decided by the draw of cards. And, it may be their turn to murder several times before drawing the card that permits them to get killed by another member. To me, this sounds like a twist on "Strangers on a Train (Two-Disc Special Edition)". However, it was nothing at all like that classic.

Jonathan Pryce plays the leader of this club ruling with high society iron! Once you sign the club's contract, there's no getting out of the club... alive! Obviously, for those who join this is the desired result. However, for those who change their minds and want to live well they're just out of luck (i.e., dead)!

The acting here is very good. Paul Bettany ( The Heart of Me) is just excellent. He has a small role, but was thoroughly enjoyable to watch. David Morrissey (Our Mutual Friend, Sense & Sensibility (with Miss Austen Regrets) (BBC TV 2008)) is superb as well. Acting isn't the issue here, nor the macabre subject matter. The issue is the pacing, or lack thereof.

The film just drags along; it's slow; it's boring; it's completely unbelievable. The concept of the club itself is not so outlandish so much as the budding love story that blooms between the card driven murders.

Additionally, the villain (Pryce) is completely flat and one-dimensional. In an extremely short story, this is could be excused. In a fleshed-out 2 hour movie, though, it removes so much of the dramatic tension.

Finally there is a point in the movie when someone states, "we all have our price" or "everyone has a price" or some such drivel, as if this might be the film's deep moral lesson! Silly, silly. . .

My recommendation is to save yourself the pain and frustration that I experienced and steer clear of this mess. I wish I had. I wasn't suicidal at all before the movie started but by the end of the film well, you get the picture.

I purchased "The Game of Death" more or less on a whim. It looked like an interesting, small film that might bear comparison with British television, or low-budget productions like those from Hammer Studios. With its minimal asking price, my only concern was whether or not the film was presented in a widescreen format. (It is, though letterboxed, not 16:9 enhanced.)

The first pleasant surprise was seeing that "Game" was produced by Roger Corman, which is not incidental. In many ways a throwback to Corman's early '60s formula of inexpensive, visually sumptuous literary adaptations, "Game"'s chief virtues are technical and similar to Corman's Poe films. The film is gorgeously lit, the sound is crisp to the point of painful, the costume and production design just rich enough to suggest much more than they show. Corman proves again that you do not have to spend a lot of money to make a decent film.

There is nonetheless a difference between "Game" and Corman's early 60s work. It is part of the charm of those films that you can sense the backlot prop shop beneath the lively surfaces. You don't care much about the rough edges, because you know the films were produced for next to nothing. Here, the uneven performances, the edgy, rushed pace, the repetitive music, in short, all the subtle symptoms of a production that didn't have quite enough time to get things perfect, are out of synch with an environment dressed to the nines.

It is a perverse testament to the film's success in conveying class on the cheap that one is a touch too aware when it doesn't measure up. Jonathan Pryce, for example, is good, but has been better. David Morrissey is all too proficient as a suicidal wimp, but I suspect his irritating self-pity would have been improved if he'd had more time to discover shades of feeling in his predicament. Instead, like the rest of the cast, he hits all the obvious points. No one is particularly bad, but neither are they very engaging.

Still, "The Game of Death" is reasonably entertaining. It's just that where the Poe films are imaginative, "Game" is luxuriously literal-minded.

Rachel Samuels in her first directing project does a good job of conducting this well written script. Robert Louis Stevenson's tale is dark. Set in the late 1800s, it is a period piece that conforms to social conventions of the day where suicide was considered socially taboo. If we updated it to the 21st century, people would be joining the Suicide Club so they could cash in on life insurance. But in this story, all assets of the deceased revert to the club. The club is run by a man named Bourne, played by Jonathan Pryce. Probably Pryce's highest profile role was as the James Bond nemesis in "Tomorrow Never Dies," but he has also been in "Ronin" with Robert DeNiro, "De-Lovely" with Kevin Kline, and will soon be in "Brothers Grimm" with Heath Ledger & Matt Damon. Here, he plays the spooky master of the club who assures a painful lingering death for any who break the rules. David Morrissey who played in "Capt. Corelli's Mandolin" and "Hilary & Jackie" is cast as Henry Joyce who longs to end his life out of grief for his late wife. He is joined by the somewhat bumbling friend Capt. May played by Neil Stuke. They run into Paul Bettany's character Shaw at a tavern who tells them about the Suicide Club. Bettany is a rising star with the recent romantic comedy "Wimbledon," playing a defrocked priest in "The Reckoning" and as a bloodthirsty gangster in "Gangster No. 1." In this film, he does a great job of playing the inebriated ruined man whose fortune he squandered and who now wishes to end it all. As the gentlemen join the others at the club, Joyce is particularly drawn to the only female member of the club, Sara Wolverton, whose husband she allowed to be killed when her military father had him shipped off to certain death in war. Catherine Siggins, a relative newcomer who was in "The Six Wives of Henry VIII," does a good job as the cold and sorrowing widow who wishes to end life. While all of this scenario may sound like a depressing subject, the film is set in the elegance of the period and the story's plot churns ever onward to the entrancing conclusion. Enjoy!

Not a bad little British film. It features some very good period costuming, good acting, particularly by actor Paul Bettany, plus well written story (it is afterall Robert Lewis Stevenson). My biggest complaint are the dark scenes, which make everything hard to see, especially the fight scenes. In addition, for a DVD, there are very few extras included, which would been nice to have. In short, it's not bad, but could have been better.

Directed on location in Ireland by Rachel Samuels on a $2 Million budget, this movie is a work of cinematic art.

The Game of Death is a film version of Robert Louis Stevenson's short story "The Suicide Club." Stevenson's short story has an unusual, not to mention, dark premise but is a bit too short for a feature length movie. However, director Samuels expanded Stevenson's idea and took it to the limit. Jonathan Pryce is wonderfully cast as Mr. Bourne, the sinister mastermind behind a card game of death.

The Game of Death follows a British war hero, Captain Henry Joyce (David Morrissey) in 1899 London whose wife died 6 months earlier, but he cannot face living any longer without her. However, he fears taking his own life since he is a bit of a coward.

One night, at a bar, Capt. Joyce confides his dilemma to an acquaintance who then tells Joyce that he is a "ruined man." The acquaintance also tells the captain that he too is a ruined man and is a member of the Suicide Club that exists to allow its members to exit this life without the social stigma of suicide.

Upon joining the club, Capt. Joyce is informed that, "the first rule of suicide club is that you don't talk about suicide club."

The Game of Death is an inexpensive but excellent literary adaptation. This movie's chief virtues are in the technical aspects. This movie is wonderfully lit, the sound is crisp, the costume and production design nothing short of excellent. The acting in this film is superior to that in many big budget Hollywood productions. The script was especially good.

It is most highly recommended.

Though Robert Louis Stevenson's name is credited, Roger Corman-produced 'The Suicide Club' is different from the original short story by the author. That doesn't mean that this film (not made-for-TV one) doesn't deserve our time. The intriguing premises of Stevenson is left intact, and the photography is surprisingly beautiful, considering the low-budget origin. And you can see Paul Bettany (credited in the third place), which is really something.

The film is about a sad and lonely man Captain Henry Joyce (David Morrissey), who, distraught after one tragic event, rather rashly joins in the secret club presided by one 'Bourne' (Jonathan Pryce). By night, the club members gather at Bourne's house, and play a deadly game by drawing a card, which determines the one who kills, and the one gets killed.

Things get complicated soon. One of the members happens to be a yonug lady named Sarah, with whom Henry eventually falls in love. Now Henry finds a new meaning in his life, but it's too late for him for once he signed a contract with Bourne, there is no turning back from the club's rules except his own demise.

[SHOT IN IRELAND] Though the original story is set in London, Iraland stands in for the location for this film, and the results are satisfactory. The film obviously lacks in money at certain points (like costumes), but Rachel Samuels handles the camera very well, not to remind us of the next-to-nothing budget. Plus, presence of villainous Jonathan Pryce with his usual gentlemanly smile adds 'class' to the entire film.

But for all its merits, the fact that the film was shot very, very fast cannot be concealed. Some parts of the film lack logical construction of story (especially the ending part, which really needs re-shooting), and if you are aware of the strict rules of real 'clubs' in England, you find it hard to believe in the incredible membership of a lady in this male-dominated culture -- and it's a suicide club, in particular.

The film offers some fun with its good, melodramatic story, but the material is raw, and the efcects are half-baked, even though with good acting from Pryce and Bettany. As is always with the case with Corman's films, 'The Suicide Club' has brilliant idea at its core, and and also decent acting (from some actors (if not all), but still remains a so-so produciton because of its underfinaced budget and awfully hasty editing.

This is a very original piece of writing so it figures that it is a classic, penned by none other than Robert Louis Stevenson. The quality of the writing made me sit up and take notice of this film from the moment it started. That the makers did not stint on its casting helped as well with Jonathan Pryce, David Morrissey and Catherine Siggins in the lead roles. The plot is not all that simple to conceive. Set in 1899 London, there is a clandestine Suicide Club which suicidal people can join. Eventually they will be murdered by a member of the club enabling them to avoid the then-considered shameful, scandalous death of a suicide. There is one problem with joining though: you can't change your mind. You are in the club till your death with Mr. Bourne (Pryce) in charge of it all, holding card games which determine who kills whom on which nights. He, of course, ends up with all of the suicide's assets at death, considerable motivation for keeping the club going. He also seems to immensely enjoy his work. Captain Henry Joyce (Morrissey) joins the club when he can't get over the death of his wife. However, he runs headlong into trouble by falling in love with another member and then wanting out. Be warned though, Stevenson never takes the easy way out at any stage of the story as many a lesser writer would.