Gamer
Time Out New York Project: Issue #728, September 10-16, 2009
★★★☆☆
Dirs. Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. 2009. R. 95mins. Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall, Kyra Sedgwick.
Gerard Butler is Kable, the unwilling star of the violent near-future gaming phenom Slayers. Created by gazillionaire mogul Ken Castle (Hall)—who at one point demonstrates his puppet-master fortitude by performing a Fosse–esque rendition of “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”—this actual-humans-in-harm’s-way competition is really a smoke screen for…world domination! Crank’s Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor direct with their usual flashy brio, and basso profundo Keith David has a sublime cameo as a cop indignant at the thought of a pistachio peanut butter sandwich. It’s that kind of movie, folks.—Keith Uhlich
