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Cruel Game

2002, Movie, R, 84 mins

Cruel Game: Review

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A payback thriller that features a mildly engrossing combination of sex and violence, this film throws credibility — but not suspense — out the window. Advertising executive Brad (Adam Baratta) is a love 'em and leave 'em guy, but babes like Jenny (Carrie Stevens) keep coming back for more. Then Jenny introduces Casanova to her poor little butterfly of a roommate, Yuki (Jennifer Tung), who overcomes Brad's cynicism about the weaker sex. Unlike the mercenary bimbos Brad usually dates, Yuki makes no demands and buys him expensive gifts. He even confides in his business partner Nick (Ross King) that Yuki may be Miss Right. When Yuki's co-worker Pedro (Damian Valencia) starts putting the moves on her, Brad's jealousy makes him more determined to commit. Unfortunately, he's told Yuki some whoppers, like the lie about needing money for his mother's operation, a ploy he uses to weed out golddiggers; he regrets his dissembling, but it's a little late to come clean. Believing that Brad's "dying" mom needs an organ transplant, Yuki gives him a check for $1,000,000 so he can buy the organ she needs on the black market. Still in shock, Brad is horrified when the bruised and frightened Jenny reveals that Yuki ripped off the money from her employers, the Yakuza! Convinced that the gangsters will kill Yuki and Jenny, gullible Brad forks over $300,000, only to discover that someone has raided the other $700,000 from his account. It appears that Yuki, Nick, Pedro, and Jenny are in cahoots with a ring of con artists and set Brad up. Smarting over this betrayal, the chastened Lothario refuses to be victimized and sets out to locate the crooks who took him to the cleaners. But what Brad doesn't know is that the federal government is also looking for these professional extortionists. This movie works pretty well as a puzzle piece, and writer-director Masashi Nagadoi's screenplay juggles its multiple cons well. It's less successful as an erotic thriller; the sexual dynamics between Yuki and Brad fizzle when they should sizzle. leave a comment --Robert Pardi
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