AnhartLinkin This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

Catangro After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

oliabroad Amazing that in 2000 Ben can take over a role in this trash-movie - plot completely predictable, easy, cheap, annoyingly two-bit - just: DON'T WATCH!!!! The flix starts poor and gets poorer the longer it last... The characters do not become more sophisticated - they just burn the last bits when it comes to the end. You can guess the budget to about 20.000,-$ - the whole time you wonder, if anything will come around the corner, if it turns into a funny movie, into a morality turn, into something that matters - it will not - trust your instinct and just turn it off! The more I think of it, the more I must rate it a 2!

Python Hyena Reindeer Games (2000):Dir: John Frankenheimer / Cast: Ben Affleck, Charlize Theron, Gary Sinise, Dennis Farina, James Frain: Laughable mess with a lame title. The only games being played are at the expense of the audience. Ben Affleck is two days away from prison release and he shares a cell with a guy who tells of the letters he receives from his girlfriend. Unfortunately his friend is stabbed during a riot and Affleck is left to inform the girlfriend but he decides to wait until after the holidays. That is the first of many stupid moves made in this crap. This obviously leads to sex where they thrash each other about as if a pay per view wrestling event. I cannot believe that John Frankenheimer took so much slack for directing The Island of Dr. Moreau when a film this bad would be a life sentence in some countries. This may very well be his worst film. Affleck delivers a laughable performance while Charlize Theron is cardboard as this conniving bimbo. Gary Sinise plays the villain who forces Affleck to rob casinos. The role allows him to constantly jab Affleck with a gun. Perhaps it was a reflect action having gone from Forrest Gump to this crap. Dennis Farina is wasted in another cardboard appearance. James Frain plays Affleck's pal in prison who is the connection to Theron. Pointless snow blown crap with a screenplay that was probably rewritten more times than the casino map. Score: 1 / 10

edwagreen Great action packed film with the best of the ironic twists in it.Ben Affleck gets more than what he bargained for when he assumes the identity of a dead inmate in jail. He meets up with a lovingly Charlize Theron, who satisfies him immensely until he finds out who her supposed brother is.Affleck is beaten and tortured by "brother" Gary Sinise and his crew. Thinking that he is the dead inmate, they want him to help them rob a casino.Theron was great here. She is a real catty type, with innocence first appearing, only to later reveal a shrewd, vicious operator. Sinise, with his hippie-like long hair, is as usual terrific in this 2000 film. Always the masterful director, John Frankenheimer does a great job once again.

seymourblack-1 The action in "Reindeer Games" takes place at Christmastime and this is also probably the best time of the year to watch the movie as it's funny, entertaining and best appreciated at a time when your critical faculties are not at their sharpest!! This slick thriller is action-packed and fast moving but also tense and very violent at times. The plot is complicated by numerous twists, mistaken identities and double-crosses and also a bunch of characters that are often very unpredictable. Characters called Rudy and Nick and a soundtrack full of Christmas songs contribute to the strong Christmas theme which is maintained throughout and the regular humorous moments provide an effective counterpoint to some of the more unsavoury things that happen on screen.Rudy (Ben Affleck) and Nick (James Frain) are a couple of cell-mates who are serving out their final few days in prison. Nick has, for some time, been corresponding with a young woman called Ashley (Charlize Theron) and tells Rudy how much he's looking forward to meeting up with her when he's released. Rudy replies that he's simply looking forward to going home and enjoying some pecan pie and hot chocolate.Shortly before he's due to leave prison, Nick gets killed in a mass brawl during which he also saves Rudy's life but as Ashley knows nothing of this, she waits outside the prison for him on the day when he's scheduled to be released. When Rudy leaves the prison and sees the beautiful Ashley, he decides to assume Nick's identity and the two of them then leave for a passionate evening at a nearby motel. Their fun soon comes to an abrupt end, however, when Ashley's psychopathic brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise) and his gang suddenly turn up.Gabriel knows from reading Nick's correspondence, that he used to work at a casino and now wants to make use of his knowledge of the business to enable him and his gang to rob the place. Rudy tries to explain that he's not Nick but Gabriel won't believe him and Rudy soon realises that even if he convinces Gabriel that he's not Nick, he will probably be shot because, as Rudy, he would be of no value to Gabriel. A series of rapid developments follow and Rudy winds up participating in the casino heist with the rest of the gang who are all dressed in Santa Claus outfits. Further surprises then follow before Rudy's nightmare finally comes to an end."Reindeer Games" gets off to a really intriguing start when the dead bodies of a number of Santa Clauses are seen lying in the snow and the story that led up to this situation is then told in flashback. The plot twists that follow produce a number of funny and surprising situations until the story finally concludes in a way which doesn't really bear too much scrutiny.Ben Affleck is tremendous as the unfortunate Rudy who, after making a bad decision to impersonate Nick, finds himself in more trouble and danger than he could ever have imagined. Charlize Theron is consistently good as the femme fatale who goes through a number of shocking changes and Gary Sinise looks incredibly evil and menacing as the villain of the piece.