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When you read a good book, it may play out like a movie in your mind. You can picture the characters and follow along with the action and drama of their story. But author Michael Ebner’s Movie Game makes for a strange and hazy kind of imaginary movie.
The story follows 17-year-old Joe through a surprisingly eventful summer vacation. Aimless and jobless, Joe plans to spend his days sneaking into the local multiplex, catching the latest releases. If he encounters any disruptive moviegoers, maybe he’ll stalk them for a while and threaten them. Then he’ll spend his nights at a nearby bar, competing with his friends to see which of them has a more extensive knowledge of movies and their stars. But then a gorgeous college girl and a couple of watchful secret agents show up and make things a lot more exciting.
Movie Game has plenty of promise—especially for those of us who love movies and frequently find ourselves frustrated by inconsiderate moviegoers. Joe’s movie theater adventures—and his nightly games with his friends—definitely make for an intriguing setup. And while his stalking of movie talkers and loud popcorn munchers may be pretty extreme, you might find yourself rooting for him anyway.
Unfortunately, though, the rest of the story is just as aimless as its main character. Joe is a troubled teen whose problems all seem to revolve around one night, three years ago, when his girlfriend, Alice, died. He came home to catch his mother with a strange man, and after he told his father—a marine biologist who spent most of his time traveling—his father disappeared and hasn’t been heard from since. His mother then left home to live with her architect boyfriend, and Joe and his older sister, Loren, have been on their own ever since. Because of that one night, Joe is bitter, angry, and full of guilt—and he covers up his feelings with an apathetic attitude. While those feelings may be perfectly understandable, though, that doesn’t make him an especially likable character.
What follows, then, is a series of random adventures that all seem to stem from his family issues. They feel haphazard and unfocused—just a random collection of strange subplots. He feels guilty for driving his parents away, causing his sister to stay and watch over him, so he tries to find a way to convince her to move on with her life. He takes his anger out on his fellow moviegoers—and anyone else who gets in his way. He seeks love and acceptance from his pretty new neighbor, avoiding his friends and trading movies for books in order to get her attention. And all of this happens while a couple of government agents track his every move.
In the end, there may be some kind of a lesson to be learned from Joe’s story—and he even grows in the process. But the storytelling feels so aimless and unfocused—and filled with random anecdotes—that readers may have a difficult time connecting with the character and following along on his adventures.
Movie lovers may find themselves drawn to Movie Game for the premise alone—but you might be surprised to find that the movie parts quickly turn into something else entirely. And an interesting idea becomes a distracted and directionless story.
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