Directed by Andy Cheung. Starring:
Now, I know what you must be thinking. "With a cast this good, this movie must really be something!" Well, I thought the same thing, and all I can tell you is that I was very disappointed in this movie. Picked it up on DVD and, right away, had a a little attitude about the fact that there are no special features, well no real ones anyway, and that doesn't sit well with me, especially with a newer release.
But, there is no other way to say it other than the story and the film itself just aren't very good, and even a cast that features at least four truly fine actors (Reynolds, Woods, Archer, Gooding) can't save it. The first ten minutes are easily the best, as the film jumps right in with the immediate moments before the assassination and the immediate aftermath. From there, things slow way down and we are treated to a simple plot that is obviously trying to be made to seem complex, after all, the assassination of the President, especially when its by a loner with a gun in the open among thousands of people, just has to be a complex conspiracy, doesn't it? Well, yes and no.
Look, we movie fans know we have to suspend disbelief to a degree, that is the price you pay for enjoymenmt of fiction. But, c'mon. A tenacious reporter for a fictional
There are big clues that are so obvious as to be borderline insulting that this assassination is not what it first appears to be, but we all knew that since it was a movie, right? The dialogue does not help, such as when early in the film the agent closest to the President (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) confronts his boss (James Woods Contact) with the startling news that he thinks that the gunman may not have acted alone. (Shocking, since we see the assassin wearing a tag giving him security clearance in the opening frames.) Woods responds, with sublime acting as always, that this thing "... is bigger than us (Secret Service), FBI, CIA, NSA, etc..." O.k., so now we know its a multi-layered plot, up until then we really thought that any old pyscho could walk up and shoot the President at close range any time in this day and age.
Sarcasm aside, the point is that would could have been a nefarious and interesting plot is never really developed. Instead of an Oliver Stone-like labyrinth of shady characters, two-faced compatriots, and suspense that keeps you on the edge of your seat no matter how far fetched the theory is, in End Game, you really don't care, because no one else really seems to care, nor are you really allowed to empathize with any of the characters.
The talents of Archer, Woods, and Reynolds are wasted here, because their characters, without trying to spoil it, are very pivotal to the plot, which is never really developed, but other than who they are- Archer the President's widow and Reynolds a retired General- we never really get to know them or understand their motivation. Again, the problem is you get the feeling that we are supposed to.
There is no real chemistry between Gooding and Harmon because the script won't allow it. I must say I wondered if Harmon could hold her own in a cast filled with heavyweights, but she does a credible job, moreso because of the limitations of the other characters than anything.
The ending is indicative of the major problem with the movie, Gooding's character has "figured it out", but won't tell Harmon. And then it just ends. Well, if you don't want to tell your partner who you have solved the biggest crime in the country with, survived death with, and mutually saved lives with, that's o.k. But how about telling us, the audience?
End Game is not a horrible movie, but it is by no stretch a good film. Pick it up if you need to be treated to some tasteful eye candy in the form of Gooding and Harmon, depending on your taste, you won't be disappointed. Otherwise, unless you want to whittle away a couple of hours without being really challenged or entertained, give this one a pass.
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