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The Game

year 1997decade 90sdirector David Finchergenre Thriller
host Bill Simmonshost Sean Fennesseyhost Chris Ryan theme David Fincher Week
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The film

The Game (1997)

Directed by David Fincher · Thriller

128 minutes

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Cast

Selected cast credits · Film reference

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25:18

Roger Ebert's review
In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 00:25:18Read transcript
  • The stated score is three and a half stars. — Bill Simmons
  • The quoted review says the movie sustains its paranoid vision past an apparent ending and makes the real ending another macabre twist. — Bill Simmons
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40:04

Casting What-Ifs

An earlier version paired Bridget Fonda with an actor whose name is transcribed as Kyle McLaughlin; Rebecca De Mornay...

An earlier version paired Bridget Fonda with an actor whose name is transcribed as Kyle McLaughlin; Rebecca De Mornay is proposed as a period alternative, and Jodie Foster and Jeff Bridges were later attached or offered major roles.

This discussion recalls a choice from an earlier episode.

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:40:04Read transcript
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46:45

Recasting Couch

Diane Lane in Deborah Kara Unger’s role; Denzel Washington as Nicholas

Diane Lane in Deborah Kara Unger’s role; Denzel Washington as Nicholas

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:46:45Read transcript
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48:36

Half-Assed Internet Research

The script’s sale and rewrites, a paramedic cameo by a performer whose name is transcribed as Spike Jones, and a reje...

The script’s sale and rewrites, a paramedic cameo by a performer whose name is transcribed as Spike Jones, and a rejected alternate ending

In the discussion (5)
Approx. transcript time · 00:48:36Read transcript
  • The producer whose name is transcribed as Steve Golem bought the script from MGM and gave it to Fincher. — Bill Simmons
  • Fincher recruited Seven writer Andrew Kevin Walker for rewrites. — Bill Simmons
  • A performer whose name is transcribed as Spike Jones appears as a paramedic in the final scene. — Bill Simmons
  • A Criterion release includes an alternate ending in which Nicholas declines a taxi and walks away. — Bill Simmons
  • The other paramedic is identified as the actor who runs the sex shop in Seven. — Sean Fennessey
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54:20

Picking Nits

The bank calls, Mexico trip, cab escape, apartment gunfire, roof jump, publishing-executive timeline, and company stakes

The bank calls, Mexico trip, cab escape, apartment gunfire, roof jump, publishing-executive timeline, and company stakes

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 00:54:20Read transcript
  • The panel doubts that a multimillionaire’s accounts could be drained so easily and suggests CRS merely redirected his calls. — Chris Ryan
  • Nicholas reading account numbers aloud in front of Deborah Kara Unger’s character is treated as implausible banking behavior. — Bill Simmons
  • His psychological-test answers seem insufficient for reliably guessing every password. — Bill Simmons
  • The movie skips how a penniless and disheveled Nicholas travels back from Mexico. — Bill Simmons
  • The panel asks how Nicholas was brought into Mexico and how he could stay roofied for a four-to-six-hour drive. — Bill Simmons
  • Divers are assumed to be waiting if Douglas drowns in the cab. — Chris Ryan
  • The apartment gunfire is explained as blanks plus effects in the walls, but the scale of the staging remains doubtful. — Bill Simmons
  • Nicholas could easily jump a few feet away from the roof target and die, making the planned fall the central liability problem.
  • Attempted suicide or fake murder would radically change the party, and recovering emotionally in ten minutes is judged implausible.
  • The timeline for the publishing executive learning about the game and accepting Nicholas’s firing is unclear. — Chris Ryan
  • Nicholas’s intense concern over a children’s publisher missing projections by two cents seems disproportionate to his wealth. — Sean Fennessey
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1:00:13

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Deborah Kara Unger’s name, a possible real-world death linked to the film, and the game’s final cost

Deborah Kara Unger’s name, a possible real-world death linked to the film, and the game’s final cost

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 01:00:13Read transcript
  • The panel asks whether using a shorter professional name would have changed Deborah Kara Unger’s career. — Bill Simmons
  • An Unsolved Mysteries case is recalled in which online speculation linked a man’s death to an obsession with this film. — Bill Simmons
  • The final-bill question is framed by 1997 prices, the brothers splitting payment, and the belief that fifteen to twenty million dollars would be unaffordable.
  • Five million dollars is proposed, then questioned because even a wealthy character would notice that cost. — Chris Ryan
  • A San Francisco commercial lease, hundreds of extras, and actor day rates add substantial overhead. — Chris Ryan
  • Permits, a cab driven into the ocean, and gunfire through an apartment building raise public-incident concerns.
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Mentions across The Rewatchables

Recorded movie reference

The Truman Show

The Rewatchables · aired November 4, 2025

The Game is listed in the sourced research for this episode. The precise discussion has not been linked yet.

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