SCREEN IT! PARENTAL REVIEW: REINDEER GAMES

"REINDEER GAMES"
(2000) (Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron) (R)

Alcohol/ Drugs	Blood/Gore	Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude	Frightening/ Tense Scenes	Guns/ Weapons
Mild	Heavy	Extreme	Heavy	Extreme

Imitative Behavior	Jump Scenes	Music (Scary/Tense)	Music (Inappropriate)	Profanity
Mild	Minor	Extreme	None	Extreme

Sex/ Nudity	Smoking	Tense Family Scenes	Topics To Talk About	Violence
Heavy	Moderate	None	Mild	Extreme

QUICK TAKE:: Action/Suspense: An ex-con finds himself tangled up with a team of criminals who want to use him to help rob a casino after he gets involved with their leader's sister.

PLOT:

Rudy Duncan (BEN AFFLECK), who's incarcerated for grand theft auto, and his cellmate, Nick Cassidy (JAMES FRAIN), have only a few days to go before they're released from prison. While Rudy can't wait to get home for Christmas dinner, Nick pines away for his pen-pal sweetheart, Ashley (CHARLIZE THERON), a woman he's never met and who's never even seen a picture of his face.

Things take a turn for the worse when Nick is killed in a prison riot, but when Rudy is finally released and spots the gorgeous Ashley whom he's heard so much about, he decides to pose as Nick for some quick, noncommittal romance. Although Ashley isn't aware of Rudy's ruse, their weekend of love is interrupted when her gunrunner brother, Gabriel (GARY SINESE), and his team of thugs confront the two.

It seems that Ashley previously told Gabriel about Nick's former job at an Indian reservation casino, and with everyone thinking Rudy is Nick, they want his knowledge about the place so that they can rob it. Although Rudy repeatedly states that he's not Nick and tries to prove his true identity, the others won't believe him. When faced with possible execution, he decides to re-embrace his new alter ego.

From that point on, Rudy tries to figure out a way to either fool or get away from Gabriel and his thugs as they plot, stake out, and eventually try to rob the Tomahawk Casino that's run by James Banks (DENNIS FARINA).

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Older male teens seem the film's most likely audience among kids, along with those who might be fans of anyone in the cast or of director John Frankenheimer's work ("Ronin," "The Manchurian Candidate").

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For strong violence, language and sexuality.

CAST AS ROLE MODELS:: Considering the criminal and often violent behavior, cussing, sexually related behavior, and double-crossing, it's unlikely that many parents would find any of the characters to be good role models (even the "hero" is an ex-con who cusses and cons a woman so that he can have sex with her).

CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO

HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE

Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit?
Then read OUR TAKE of this film.

(Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below).

OUR WORD TO PARENTS:

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated, action thriller. Violence is extreme due to many people being killed in various fashions (often with bloody results), while plenty of other non-lethal, but still brutal violence is also present. Many of those scenes (along with some others) may be unsettling and/or suspenseful to some viewers, and are accompanied by plenty of suspenseful and ominous music.

Profanity is similarly rated as extreme due to nearly 60 "f" words being used, while other profanities and colorful phrases are also uttered. Some of that talk is sexually related, while we see two characters fooling around before sex (with some brief nudity), while some later nudity (bare breasts) also occurs. Pretty much all of the characters are criminals and/or have bad attitudes as they plot to rob a casino, kill people and double cross others.

Beyond that, there's also some drinking and smoking. Should you still be concerned about the film's content and whether it's appropriate for yourself or anyone else in your home, we suggest that you more closely examine our more detailed content listings to get a better understanding of exactly what's present in the film.

ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE: A thug has a beer.
Rudy orders rum and cokes in the casino where other people also drink.
Ashley has a drink.
One of the thugs drinks rum from a bottle and then offers some to Rudy. In turn, he pours some into his squirt gun and then squirts some shots of it into his mouth.
Jack has vodka while some of his casino guards drink.
Rudy has a beer in the casino.

BLOOD/GORE: We see several dead and bloody people dressed in Santa suits (some with blood around them as well).
After a man is stabbed with a shiv, his hand is bloody, blood comes from his mouth and there's blood on the table near him.
Rudy has some dried blood under his nose.
A thug backhands Rudy, drawing blood from his nose.
People who are shot during a gun battle are bloody and we see some blood splatter on a wall.
Jack's face is bloody.
A man has some blood from his mouth after being injured.

DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE: Rudy is in prison for grand theft auto.
Another prisoner has an unfounded vendetta against Rudy and tries to kill him (and instead ends up stabbing someone else).
Rudy lies to Ashley about being Nick so that he can have an easy weekend of sex with her.
Gabriel and his associates and thugs have both for being criminals, abducting and threatening Rudy, trying to rob a casino and killing people.

FRIGHTENING SCENES: Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling and/or suspenseful to some viewers.
In a several minute sequence, Rudy tries to escape through the snow as his decoy momentarily confuses Gabriel and his thugs. Some gunfire is involved and two people then end up falling through a crack in an ice-covered lake and going under the frozen surface.
Trying to intimidate Rudy, Gabriel throws darts near his head.
In a several minute sequence that's accompanied by suspenseful/ominous music, Rudy tries to escape from a hotel, avoid the thugs, and then get back into his room before the thugs reappear.
A person tries to start a car as it's being lit on fire and before it's sent over a ravine.

GUNS/WEAPONS: Shiv: Used by one prisoner to stab another in the back.
Handguns/Machine guns: Used to threaten, wound or kill others.
Various weapons: Seen in Gabriel's possession in his semi-truck.
Squirt gun: Given to Rudy instead of a real one.

IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR: Phrases: "I'm f*cked," "Shut the f*ck up," "Dumb f*cks," "F*cker," "Bum f*ck," "Sh*tload," "Sh*t-faced," "I don't give a sh*t," "Skirt" (for a woman), "Bastard," "Piss," "Shut up," "Go to hell" and "Whore."
Rudy has some tattoos on his body.
Trying to intimidate Rudy, Gabriel throws darts near his head.

JUMP SCENES: A person suddenly hits Rudy.

MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE): An extreme amount of suspenseful and ominous music plays throughout the film.

MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE): None.

PROFANITY: At least 59 "f" words (5 used with "mother," 3 used sexually), 29 "s" words, 7 hells, 2 asses (1 used with "hole"), 2 S.O.B.s, 1 crap, 1 damn and 10 uses of "G-damn," 7 each of "Jesus" and "Jesus Christ," 4 of "Oh my God," 3 of "Swear to God," 2 of "God" and 1 use each of "For God's sakes" and "Oh Jesus" as exclamations.

SEX/NUDITY: A comment is made about "rolling" (having sex with) some girl.
We see some photos of Ashley in a small bikini.
We see Rudy and Ashley passionately making out and removing some of their clothing while we hear heavy breathing. We then see him on top of her on a table, pulling off her pants (we see her in her underwear). They're then on the motel bed where we briefly see part of his bare butt along with her bare breasts, her pleasured reaction and part of her bare butt. While rolling around on the bed, they manage to roll off the bed, and while we don't see any other sexual activity, we do see them in bed after they've had sex.
Ashley then talks about few guys wanting to know what she's like inside, that they just wanted to get inside her. Later, we see Ashley sort of dancing around in her underwear.
Gabriel makes a comment about Rudy posing as Nick for Ashley so that "you could get down her chimney."
After Ashley tells Rudy that she loves him, Gabriel tells him to say something back. So, Rudy, who's mad at her, responds that he had better sex in prison.
We see some "girlie" photos on a wall, but since they're seen from a distance and are mostly out of focus, no fine details are noticeable.
We see Ashley's bare breasts as she removes her bikini top while in a swimming pool.
A character comments that the only thing another character has been doing right is "f*cking my girlfriend." Later, someone tells Ashley, "You f*cked the wrong guy." Even later, she states, "For your information, I never f*cked the wrong guy."

SMOKING: One of the thugs smokes more than five times, while Ashley smokes several times. Meanwhile, a few miscellaneous/background characters also smoke.

TENSE FAMILY SCENES: None.

TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT: The trouble Rudy gets into after deciding to pose as his cellmate.
The criminal behavior of most of the characters.

VIOLENCE: To preserve some of the surprising twists and turns that come near the end, descriptions near the end of this category won't identify the participants of the violent acts).
We see several dead and bloody people dressed in Santa suits (some with blood around them as well).
During a prison cafeteria riot, prisoners grab a guard and push him into a wall. As more guards arrive, a large prisoner approaches Rudy, pushing others out of his way. As he tries to get to Rudy, another prisoner gets in the way and is stabbed in the back with a shiv.
One of Gabriel's thugs hits Rudy with a bat and another thug grabs him as they knock over a stove in a rustic cabin. Rudy then elbows and hits one of them, but the other hits Rudy with a bat again and Gabriel holds a gun on him.
Gabriel punches Rudy several times before kicking him on the floor.
Thinking that Rudy doesn't want to cooperate, Gabriel throws him to the ground and tells his thugs to "bury" him. They then take him off and prepare to execute him via a gunshot, but this doesn't happen.
Gabriel throws Ashley to the ground.
While interrogating Rudy where a wrong answer could lead to death, Gabriel holds his gun on him.
A thug backhands Rudy, drawing blood from his nose.
Rudy pushes a man up against a wall and then does the same to a thug, repeatedly kicking him in the gut.
Men shoot at Rudy as he tries to flee and Ashley hits Gabriel just as he's ready to shoot Rudy. Rudy then uses a gun to hit Gabriel in the face and tries to flee again as Gabriel shoots at him again.
Gabriel fires several shots into an ice shack, killing the man inside (we don't see the impact or any views from the inside).
Gabriel throws several darts into Rudy's body.
Gabriel kicks Rudy and a thug also hits him. Gabriel holds a gun on Rudy that then turns out to be just a squirt gun.
To create a diversion, Rudy overturns a casino table.
Men fire machine guns in a casino, destroying property inside it. They then get into a gun battle with security guards where several people on both sides are shot and killed.
A character drives a car into the casino, running into and injuring or killing two guards.
Gabriel threatens a man with a gun who in turn pulls out a machine gun and mows down several people. As that man fires at others, Rudy fights with a thug, eventually elbowing him several times.
A man squirts a flammable liquid onto another man's face just as he's using a lighter, thus causing him to catch on fire and be engulfed in flames before falling out of a window and crashing into the windshield of a car below him.
A man is shot dead and we see that most of the casino has been destroyed via gunfire.
A person shoots and wounds another person before executing them at point blank range.
A person drives a car into another person and pins them to a wall. Another person then shoots at the first, but they hit the third with the car and then jump out before the car and the third person go over the edge of the ravine to their death and the car's destruction below. A truck is then sent into the ravine where it explodes and kills the person inside it.

Reviewed January 21, 2000 / Posted February 25, 2000

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