The critics hated it, (and basically so did the public), but John Frankenheimer's "Reindeer Games" is a surprisingly enjoyable movie let down only by a weak performance from Ben Affleck as the ex-con who finds himself embroiled in a Christmas heist, hence the title. It may not be one of Frankenheimer's better films but it's certainly not the Christmas turkey that its reputation might suggest and if Affleck lets the side down there's compensation in the form of Charlize Theron, Gary Sinise and Dennis Farina.
As written by Ehren Kruger it's a piece of pulp fiction with no pretensions to being anything else and it's a lot more violent than you might expect; it may be set during the season of goodwill but there's very little of that on display. In fact, it's just the kind of Christmas movie for people who hate Christmas movies. The plot may be totally daft but that's half the fun and Sinise makes for a terrific villain. A cult movie if there ever was one.
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