Reindeer Games

“And sometimes you do Reindeer Games.” Affleck may be the bomb in Phantoms, but he totally phones it in in the holiday thriller Reindeer Games. When Rudy Duncan’s cellmate, Nick Cassidy, is killed two days before his release Rudy assumes his identity and hooks up with Nick’s girlfriend, but he’s soon kidnapped by her brother and forced to help him pull off a casino robbery. The film has a pretty solid cast (besides Ben Affleck) that includes Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron, Danny Trejo, and Dennis Farina. But the script is replete with problems; the dialog in particular is pretty bad. However, if you can get past the script issues and the weak acting, there’s a fairly interesting heist story with some good twists and surprises. While Reindeer Games has its issues, it’s entertaining and delivers some fun thrills.