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Review

The unknown can usually be nerve-racking, from a haunting voice in the night to the nagging curiosity of what's right around the corner. Hitchcock was a master of exploiting the unknown and our fears of it. He would have no doubt smiled mischievously at Fincher's slick, tense thriller in which twists, suspense and uncertainty all come together in a chilling puzzle called The Game. Douglas is right at home as Nicholas Van Orton, a multimillionaire investment banker whose rigid lifestyle and cold exterior have given him little time or desire to manage familial or social relationships. On his uneventful 48th birthday, Nicholas' younger brother Conrad (an underused Penn) makes a present to Nicholas of "the game," sort of a full-time fantasy camp where the subject lives out an unknown scenario. But as life-threatening and increasingly bizarre incidents occur, Van Orton learns this game, once begun, is not easily ended. Fincher (Seven) is very successful in setting up his action pieces, and maintains believable, edge-of-your-seat tension throughout. As Van Orton and the hapless viewer both discover, this is one instance in which what you don't know can hurt you.