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It’s often fascinating (and, in many cases, a little depressing) to watch an actor through the ups and downs of a Hollywood career. Throughout the ‘90s, Bruce Willis was one of Hollywood’s most sought-after action heroes. A decade after that, Chad Michael Murray was a TV heartthrob. But in Survive the Game, both find themselves at a very different place in their career.
Survive the Game finds recently widowed farmer Eric (Murray) caught in the middle of a battle between cops and criminals. Eric is still struggling with his loss when his home is invaded by a couple of drug dealers and the detective who’s in pursuit. As the drug dealers call in for backup, Eric’s home and property are flooded with bad guys—but, fortunately, Eric is a former soldier, so he knows how to handle a deadly situation. And he teams up with detective Cal (Swen Temmel) to try to take down the growing band of criminals and save his partner, David (Willis).
Once the stage is set for battle, though, there’s not much more to this thriller. There’s very little plot here—just a couple of tough cops and a desperate farmer sneaking around the property, hiding around corners and under porches, trying to take down a band of increasingly laughable criminals. It starts with just two bad guys: Harley Quinn wannabe Violet (Kate Katzman) and her criminally insane boyfriend, Mickey (Zack Ward). Then we add awkwardly robotic Frank (Michael Sirow) and his pair of idiotic goons. And though everyone is waiting for the new boss to show up and take care of everything, he doesn’t really fare any better.
Really, it’s a wonder that these guys have managed to evade capture for so long—that David and Cal have spent years watching their movements—because no one here seems to know what they’re doing. Some are ridiculously unhinged, some are bumbling, and others aren’t nearly as dangerous as they look. And with little to no background on the characters (other than Eric’s brief and sadly clichéd backstory) or their history, it’s nearly impossible to care about anything that happens on this remote farmland.
Of course, if you’re perfectly happy with brainless action that offers next to no story, Survive the Game may be a decent pick for some background viewing. But with so little development, so little story, and so many ridiculous characters, it will cause most viewers to lose interest and check out after a surprisingly short amount of time.
Listen to the review on Reel Discovery:
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