Most critics like The Game without quite loving it: five positive, six mixed, none hostile. The praise lands in two places. Michael Douglas is singled out repeatedly, as a cold man played with full commitment or a desperate pawn well cast. Fincher’s direction draws nearly as much approval: the clinical precision, the haunting atmosphere of a waking nightmare, the careful, darkly funny pacing of the twists as Nicholas Van Orton’s controlled life comes apart.
The reservations gather round the ending. Several reviews call the finale implausible; the question is whether that is a flaw or the point. Radio Times finds the film turns glossy and trivial after a fascinating setup; Empire cannot decide whether it is gloriously or irritatingly unbelievable; Variety admires the puzzle more than it warms to it. The later reviews are kinder: The AV Club argues the implausible finale earns its emotional release, and the Los Angeles Times says repeat viewings make the conclusion easier to accept. Nobody dismisses it.