[yasr_overall_rating]
In a future world not too far away, multi-millionaire Steve Battier is dying from a terminal disease. He accepts an offer from a biotechnological company that provides a very select group of clients the opportunity to be young again and free from disease…but there is a catch!
I’ve always liked Rutger Hauer as an actor. Ever since I first saw him in “Nighthawks” with Sylvester Stallone and then in his breakout role as Roy Batty in Ridley Scott’s sci-fi masterpiece, “Blade Runner,” the man has always had a screen presence that is unmistakable. While he has most certainly kept busy over the years making such classics as “The Osterman Weekend” (a favorite of mine), “Ladyhawke,” “The Hitcher” and “Batman Begins,” amongst many others, I had always hoped that he would go on to have a bigger leading man career but I will take what I can get. Although “Real Playing Game” advertises Mr. Hauer as the film’s star, in reality, he is actually relegated to that of a supporting character.
Here, he plays Steve Battier, an elderly, terminally ill multi-millionaire who accepts an offer from a company called RPG (Real Playing Game) where for an undisclosed large amount of money, he can become young again. But there’s a catch. His mind is transferred to that of a healthy young person and along with nine other elderly people in his same predicament, they have ten hours in their new bodies but only one person can survive. The rules are simple: every hour, one person must die or the game will choose someone randomly and terminate them until the last person is left standing. Initially, in their young bodies, they can’t remember their old lives but gradually it all comes back to them.
There are ten holograms of them as elderly people along with their bios and if someone kills another person, they must make sure they know who they are first, otherwise, they will die too. In the beginning, everyone agrees to not kill anyone else, to just let the hour run out but skepticism, suspicion and fear creeps in and various people start reaching out to others, befriending them and those gullible enough to mention anything about themselves and their past, are in for a very rude awakening as seemingly amiable and nonviolent people quickly turn into deceivers and ultimately, raging monsters.
The story is very similar to such movies as “The Condemned,” “Gamer,” “Death Race” and “Rollerball,” films where contestants enter the game, willingly and in some instances, unwillingly but all are made aware that their actions are deemed entertainment for the viewers watching and that they could wind up dead. The setting here is an old abandoned hotel with an empty swimming pool somewhere in Portugal. The overall story, while not totally original, more than makes up for it with its creepy and legitimate location. The films boasts a very eclectic cast made up of Americans, English and Portuguese and while they are a diverse group to say the very least, some of the performances are as wooden as they creaky floorboards they stand upon.
In the end, the movie never conspires for originality but it does succeed in other areas, such as the fact that the majority of the film is shot entirely at its ominous locale accompanied by a hot and humid environment instead of on a movie set. The acting for the most part is fine, given the story and ambience but once Mr. Hauer gives up his old body for a younger and newer one and withdraws from the movie, the film, sadly, loses the one thing that will undoubtedly draw people in, Mr. Hauer himself.
Available on VOD and DVD February 10th
