Il gioco di Gerald

I quite admittedly avoided this one for a bit because I thought it would have to be masterfully finessed to keep this storyline contained in a single room while keeping my attention. I was not wrong... they just did in fact do it exceptionally well.

This movie is engrossing and atmospheric, throwing you head first into her mental and physical struggles. They do a great job of making you feel like you are, in part, experiencing it first hand. This is done with its clever editing along with the high caliber of acting. Both main characters did an exceptional job, truly. Especially the wife, high emotionally intensified scenes are not easy and she did them at great length and with prowess.

I would say my biggest gripe with this was the ending. It felt very "adapted from a book". It went from a storyline within action, to a spoon fed monologue narrating the aftermath for quite sometime in fact. I didn't dislike the way it actually ended, just the way it was executed. Overall this felt like something quite original and different, would recommend.

I will confess that I have never read the Stephen King novel on which this movie is based. Maybe the end is a bit clearer in the novel, but the ending of the movie really kind of left me a bit empty. I was really enjoying this movie up to that last ten minutes or so. I can't say that I had been particularly familiar with Carla Gugino, who played Jessie in this, but I thought her performance was fabulous. The story begins with Jessie and her husband Gerald (Bruce Greenwood) taking a vacation in a remote place in the hopes of resparking their marriage, which had gone dry romantically and sexually. To do that, Gerald had brought handcuffs and handcuffed Jessie to the bed. To that point this really had something of a "dark comedy" feel to it; it was humourous in a warped sort of way. But it doesn't stay that way for very long. Jessie wasn't enthusiastic about Gerald's handcuff game, or the rape scenario that he wanted to play out with them, and she eventually objected, leading to a fight between them - during which Gerald dropped dead of a heart attack with Jessie still chained to the bed. Alone, with no one to help her, no food, a hungry dog that had found its way into the house and was feeding on Gerald's body and only a single glass of water, she has to find a way to survive. The movie eventually becomes a journey of self-discovery for Jessie as she finds herself exploring the demons in her own past back to her childhood and her relationship with her father and how they connect with the present.

This is really well done, and it includes a few scenes that are absolutely cringe-worthy. I actually had to turn away from the screen a couple of times. But personally I just thought this fell apart a bit with the ending. I didn't like the "Moonlight Man." I didn't think the "Moonlight Man" was really necessary to the story. The dog and just the situation seemed quite sufficient to make this a thoroughly superb horror movie and, to me at least, the "Moonlight Man" took a horror movie and turned it into something silly - although that was only in the last ten minutes or so of the movie. I will say that this definitely has a Stephen King feel to it, and up to that last ten minutes I would have said this was superb. But when an ending leaves me dry I end up having to mark it down just a little bit. (7/10)

The second I saw the trailer for this movie it grabbed my attention purely because I wondered how the hell a 1 hour 43 minute movie could built upon the premise of a woman being handcuffed to a bed. But Gerald's Game proved me wrong.

There are so many hidden aspects of this movie that you just don't expect. Carla Gugino's performance as the main character, Jessie, is fantastic and she manages to carry the movie practically all by herself. Jessie's character is slowly dissected throughout and it's living through her struggles - past and present - that keeps you hooked and wanting to watch more.

The relationship between Jessie and her husband Gerald is authentic and believable. Even the character of Gerald (played by Bruce Greenwood), who was in the movie for a very short period of time, brought an element of fear and tension to the movie, when his sexual preferences suggest there may be a more sinister side to him.

Admittedly, it is slow in parts and there are areas where it starts to drag, but ultimately it's an engaging movie throughout. By delving into Jessie's psyche it has you doubt her mental state and what is real and what isn't, but also allows viewers to form a connection with her and sympathise with her as a character.

The ending has a twist that I didn't see coming, which I'm still unsure about. Was it genius or was it silly? I'll let you be the judge of that. Personally, I found it interesting although it didn't necessarily fit right with the rest of the movie.

The only reason this gets 7 stars is because of the slow pacing in places, lack of build-up and slightly unsatisfying ending.

Worth the watch. But not for the Marvel/Star Wars crowd. As you can probably tell from the reviews, there were not enough explosions or CGI to keep most people entertained.

A woman trapped by a sadistic husband has to rely on unexplored strengths that emerge in a life threatening situation. This is not really a horror movie, although it's scary enough. Based on a Stephen King novel. I won't reveal how this plays out, but I felt it went off track at the end. Carla Gugino is great, and deserves a lot of credit for making the script work. It's a very small cast of characters, but she really stands out in the way she manages the changes her character goes through. I think I'd like to read the book now.