Reindeer Games (2000)

After assuming his dead cellmate's identity to get with the other man's girlfriend, an ex-con finds himself a reluctant participant in a casino heist.

Director:

John Frankenheimer

Writer:

Ehren Kruger

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Gary Sinise, Charlize Theron

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Affleck	...	Rudy Duncan
James Frain	...	Nick Cassidy
Dana Stubblefield	...	The Alamo
Mark Acheson	...	Mean Guard
Tom Heaton	...	Ugly Staffer
Isaac Hayes	...	Zook
Michael Sunczyk	...	Distant Inmate #1
Douglas Arthurs	...	Distant Inmate #2 (as Douglas H. Arthurs)
Dean Wray	...	Guard #1
Ron Sauvé	...	Guard #2 (as Ron Sauve)
Ron Jeremy	...	Prisoner #1 (as Ron Hyatt)
Hrothgar Mathews	...	Exit Guard
Charlize Theron	...	Ashley
Clarence Williams III	...	Merlin
Donal Logue	...	Pug

Storyline

After being imprisoned for six years on a grand theft auto charge, Rudy Duncan (Ben Affleck) is days away from release as is his cellmate Nick (James Frain) who is is serving a two year sentence on a separate charge. Nick has a number of pictures from a romantic correspondence with a woman named Ashley he has never met but is waiting for his release. Rudy is looking forward to returning to his family and having a fresh cup of hot chocolate. Nick is killed defending Rudy during a prison riot. When Rudy Is released the next day from prison he recognizes Ashley waiting outside the prison for Nick and Rudy takes his place and pretends to be Nick. Nick had spoken of his previous employment in security with an Indian casino and Rudy finds himself involved with Ashley's criminal gun runner brother Gabriel (Gary Sinise). Rudy is violently coerced to cooperate with a Christmas Eve casino robbery scheme that Gabriel and his gang have been planning with Nick's casino knowledge as the key. Things...

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Plot Keywords:

female frontal nudity | no panties | female rear nudity | female nudity | breasts | 

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Taglines:

The trap is set. The game is on.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, language and sexuality

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deception

Filming Locations:

Lion's Gate Studios, North Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$42,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,128,356, 27 February 2000, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$23,360,779, 18 June 2000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Dimension Films,Marty Katz Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min 124 min (director's cut)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Originally planned for a Christmas 1999 release, but delayed until February 2000 after a poor test screening in mid 1999.

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Goofs

When Rudy is pointing the water pistol at one of the gang members, at one angle, his arm is fully extended. At a different angle, his elbow is bent so we can see the gun as his face in the same shot. When they cut back and forth, Rudy's arm jumps from extended to bent and back.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Rudy Duncan: [Rudy narrating] To tell ya the truth, I never was much for the holidays. It's been forever since I'd known a holiday, since I'd seen my family, since I'd been with a girl, since I'd driven a car. You see, cars are what put me here - Iron Mountain, Maximum Security Prison. I was riding a hard five for grand theft auto. Meanwhile, most of my esteemed raping and murdering colleagues were up for parole in three. The world works like that sometimes. All the time, in my experience. ...
[...]

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Connections

References Beavis and Butt-Head Do America (1996)

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Soundtracks

Love Rollercoaster
Written by Ralph Middlebrooks, James 'Diamond' Williams (as James L. Williams),
Marshall E. Jones (as Marshall Jones), Leroy 'Sugarfoot' Bonner (as Leroy Bonner),
, Clarence Satchell, Willie Beck, Marvin Pierce (as Marvin R. Pierce)
Performed by Ohio Players
Published by Rightsong Music, Inc. (BMI)
o/b/o itself and Rick's Music, Inc.(BMI)
Courtesy of The Island Def Jam Music Group
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

Terrible film

Absolutely ridiculous film - so many twists and turns and all so somebody can construct a ridiculously over-complicated scam to rob a casino when in the end all they really need for the job are enough guns to kill absolutely EVERYBODY. Highlight of the film - Afleck's "disguise" - so that no-one will recognize him he dons a ten gallon hat and a mustache like the edge from U2. Works a treat. Looks just like Afleck wearing a ten gallon hat and a moustache like the Edge. Great for laughs though not meant to be funny I think. Most tedious feature of the film - the gang keeps threatening to kill Afleck and each time he escapes them they meat out some justice on him in the form of violence. However, considering they never do actually kill him it becomes painfully apparent just how empty their threats are - to the point where the viewer no longer has to sit on the edge of his seat but can sit back safe in the knowledge that these criminals will never kill Afleck no matter what he does to them. Why, is never completely clear. They probably just liked the mustache I guess.