G@me (2003) Reviews

• A must watch - one of the best modern day Japanese flicks

  ZOOM90002005-04-07

  G@me was not really known about outside Japan when it came out but I happened to have had the privilege of watching it on a Virgin Atlantic air flight from UK to Hong Kong. The story line is written to perfection, the plot being measured intricately all the way through. A very intelligent film. The movie centres around Sakuma (played by the handsome Fujiki Naohito) who works as an advertiser / commercial promoter. Due to the cancellation of a project he has worked hard on by his boss Katsuragi (played by the ruthless Ryo Ishibashi), Sakuma enters into an agreement with Katsuragi's daughter, Chiharu (played by the beautiful Nakama Yuki) that she should be kidnapped as a ransom for her father's money. In performing the kidnap, Sakuma and Chiharu fall in love although there are scenes when both try to be as objective and unemotional as possible. Worth all your time and watch and one hopes to see Fujiki and Nakama come on screen together in the near future.

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• watch it before Hollywood does a remake!

  naosGRL2005-01-09

  this film is a slick caper movie that's not what it seems. a little slow starting, it tells the story of an ad exec who loses his chance to bag a big deal because the company boss sees a different direction for the product. he runs into juri, the boss's runaway daughter, and they plot to fake her kidnapping. but things turn bizarre when after the payoff, juri is still missing. the love angle between the two leads is expected, but there are a lot of twists towards the last thirty minutes of the film. it's not the usual, simple plot. there were a lot of parts that had me in suspense, without any shooting or violence, due in large part to naohito fujiki's excellent acting. it's slick, it's smart, it's suspenseful. watch it now, before Hollywood decides to buy the rights and turn this excellent story into another pretty-boy action-star vehicle.

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• G@me

  a_baron2015-06-29

  A high flying executive stumbles across a damsel in distress, she is actually the daughter of a major client who is the man behind a massive project on which he is working. The girl gives him the impression she needs some time away then suggests casually that they fake her kidnapping and split the ransom. When the project falls through he decides to take up her bizarre offer for personal as much as financial reasons. In any kidnapping for ransom the pay-off is always the fly in the ointment, but our hero is also a games developer, and his knowledge of technology - including disguising his voice electronically - is second to none, so with that and a little old-fashioned artifice, that hurdle is negotiated safely. All good and fine up to here, likewise when it transpires the damsel is really a femme fatale, but hereafter the plot becomes so convoluted that you really have to wonder what is really going on, and the ending, well, if you watch it without the subtitles, you won't be any more confused.

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• Thin line between ambition and revenge

  KineticSeoul2013-01-01

  This movie started out pretty darn narrow with a fake kidnapping scheme going on. Which takes up the first full hour of this movie and thought it was pretty bland. The male actress is bland as well and felt too much like a robot. It's alright to have that kinda trait because of the role the actor he is playing but he shows almost zero emotion in this whole movie. And without good enough reasons. Yukie Nakama did a good job playing the pretend kidnapped victim and brought out just the right amount of emotions. So when it comes to the core of the plot though it's about playing one another and who is the true schemer. However the love relationship and attraction just seemed to come out of nowhere since there just wasn't enough bonding for the viewers to see to merit it. Yeah, they both set up a task to make a fake kidnapping and both are arrogant and materialistic but that is about it. The constant trying to outwit each other is entertaining but some dumb mistakes get in the way to make this movie not all that believable. Since they make some clever scheme that is possible but make really dumb mistakes. Overall this is a decent movie with wits that show the thin line between ambition and revenge and what people will do to achieve it. 6.8/10

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• Well thought out plot

  ebiros22012-12-26

  G@me is a well crafted suspense drama of deception where battle of the minds takes the story to its climax. The movie is about selfishness, and confidence each of the character has on their intelligence to pull off the deception. Who's in control, is one of the intriguing aspects of the story. Is love stronger than greed in the end ? In today's Japanese society where performance in money making ability is king, this movie shows a cross section of its society where one will go any length to get the business and money at their job. The cruelty of each of the character in this movie shows how deep people are willing to go to achieve this goal. The story was good, but I couldn't get into the cruelness of the characters. This kind of took away from the story. But I guess a story had to be made that's (almost) totally dependent on the mind game of the characters. If you like good plots, and complex strategies, this movie is for you.

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