End Game (2006) User Reviews

Totally lacks Compulsion

[mjw2305 · 4/10 · 2 January 2007]

Cuba Gooding Jr. is a secret service agent who blames himself over the assassination of the U.S. President, i'll point out straight away that this is not the type of role that this very talented actor is noted for, and this film shows us why. He teams up with a persistent news reporter (Angie Harmon) to uncover the conspiracy surrounding the president's death, and so on, blah, blah, blah.

Even with a cast of James Woods, Cuba Gooding Jr, Anne Archer and Angie Harmon 'End Game' fails to grab your attention, plain and simple; some of the action is good, the acting isn't all bad and the story although clichéd and done before could have lead to an entertaining and enjoyable movie - WELL IT DOESN'T! The writing of the script and the direction makes absolutely sure of that, at no point does it suck you into the story or make you give the slightest thought to any of the characters.

4/10 It's Boring, Predictable and Dull.

A stellar cast looking for a movie

[krorie · 5/10 · 4 October 2006]

Apparently most of the money spent in making "End Game" went to pay the stars. With such adept actors as Cuba Gooding Jr., James Wood, Anne Archer, and a pasty-faced Burt Reynolds literally having a bad-hair day, this movie should have been much better. None of the others looks quite as shopworn as Burt but they do give the appearance of being tired and bored. Cuba almost walks through his lines as if reading from a cue card.

The story is trite and lackluster, with only a few exciting scenes such as the opening assassination. Both writers, J.C. Pollock and stunt man Andy Cheng, are novices and it shows. Even the title is lame. Of what relevance is "End Game," and what exactly is the story? This viewer got confused, especially toward the end.

Vaguely, the film is about the assassination of a President and a personal investigation by the secret service man, Alex Thomas (Gooding), who did take a bullet for the President. But the bullet pierced Thomas' hand and then hit the President, ergo Thomas feels responsible for the Chief Executive's death, that he also let the First Lady down. He is joined in his manhunt by a reporter, Kate Crawford (Angie Harmon), who is determined to crack the case and get her scoop even at the risk of her own life. The situation becomes extremely hazardous as more and more evidence is uncovered pointing a finger to those in high places of our government. How the case is resolved at the end of the game leaves several unanswered questions. That all this sounds familiar indicates the picture's lack of originality and creativity.

The hackneyed script does provide a few good lines such as when Kate is interrogating an indigent person who keeps asking her for money. When she wants him to keep a house under surveillance, he tells her he would be glad to help anytime. She mumbles under her breath,"And how much will that cost me?"

Rather than waste time watching "End Game," why not rent other better movies on the topic such as "In The Line Of Fire," starring Clint Eastwood?

Disappointing

[jon-573 · 4/10 · 10 January 2006]

This movie looked good - good cast, evergreen topic and an explosive opening. It went downhill from there. Why was it filmed by hand held camera? It shakes, judders, part captures scenes and simply confuses the viewer. A poor choice indeed. As if this was not enough, the worst edit in memory assumes a drugged viewer - mandatory if you want to get any enjoyment from it at all. And then it commits the worst sin of all. After leading the viewer down all sorts of unlikely and implausible scenarios to the point of exhaustion, they roll credits without revealing the denouement - the ending - the payoff -like what the heck was the motive? How can you expect to succeed by making thrillers without an ending? Doh! This movie had great promise and ending up doing a face plant in the mud. What a waste of effort. Poor effort by writer and director.

Good cast......bad writing.......bad writing........bad writing

[jakewilliams14 · 3/10 · 5 May 2006]

I argued with myself whether to rent this or not. I'm always afraid of renting something I've never heard of (don't remember this being in theaters). Great cast...that's what tipped the scales. 30 minutes in, I almost stopped watching it. The first few minutes are fun to watch, but unbelievable. It only gets worse after that. The writers of this movie could do a little research on future projects if they want to make their movies even a little better. Or they could just try writing something just a little bit believable. I give it a 3....a 1 for the writing (only because there are words)and a 2 for being able to get so many good actors to agree to do this movie despite having to read the script. Oh my god this movie sucks.

a real stinker

[luke-283 · 2/10 · 10 September 2006]

i guess its possible that I've seen worse movies, but this one is a real stinker! the plot is unremarkable but thats not the worst of it. the directing is no where close to what you would expect from andy ching. he's capable of good work but failed to pull this movie together.

angie harmon, playing the female lead as a reporter dogging into who's behind the assassination of the president, truly butchered the role. there was no chemistry with gooding, her demeanor was flat and wooden, and the 5 inch spike heels she wore throughout the movie were absurd. this outing for harmon places her solidly at the bottom of the "b" list.

and what was cuba gooding thinking??? he has to his credit a number of outstanding performances, but this was far beneath what we've come to expect from him.

poor james woods and burt reynolds. poor poor poor poor poor.

just another stiff

[pheyrman · 1/10 · 24 February 2007]

Some guy gets whacked. Right out in plain sight this other guy shoots him. He's got some bodyguards and they whack the killer, but a reporter gets interested. She goes to the hospital where they took the guy who got whacked. She walks in, and corners one bodyguard, but he doesn't feel like talking. I can't figure out why. It's not like anyone else is interested. She's the only reporter there. Anyway, her editor discourages her from working on this lame story. But hey, she does anyway. She goes to see the killer's sister & mom. A few minutes after she leaves they get whacked big time-- somebody blows up their trailer-- huge ball of fire. Then she searches out the bodyguard from the hospital. She finds him hungover on his boat, but a minute later they're both underwater sucking on a scuba tank 'cause three guys are trying to whack them (and have blown up the boat big time-- huge ball of fire). The reporter and the bodyguard whack two of the guys who are trying to whack them.

In the course of the next hour another guy gets whacked crossing the street, there's a shootout with several stiffs in a warehouse, some car chases with wreckage & death, a fake suicide, etc. etc. Lotsa stiffs, all kindsa carnage.

Great stuff, but what the reporter and the bodyguard can't figure is: why in hell the original guy got whacked. What's the motivation? Of course, it might help us to figure out why the reporter's even interested. Through almost all of this she's the only reporter on the story. Nobody else in the media cares. Not even with all the big fireballs and dead bodies. True, the original guy who got whacked wasn't exactly a celebrity. His job was a little bit dull. He was just the President. Yeah, the one who lives in the White House. Oh, and the bodyguard is a Secret Service agent.

Is that the spoiler?

It should be. After all there are no TV cameras, no other print reporters, no bloggers... just another one of those police blotter crimes...

So what's the spoiler?

Lemme think...

No! Wait! The spoiler is that his wife did it! Yeah... the First Lady. She was p---ed because the President was fooling around. And she gets away with it. She's really sharp, huh? But how the hell could anybody ever figure that out? Why would anyone bother? After all, only one reporter is even interested.

I give this move a "1". It was so dumb I just had to keep watching. And it only got dumber! That's the real spoiler! But even though I've told you, you've got to see it to believe it!

A Fast Paced Action Thriller That's Not All That Bad!

[gradyharp · 7/10 · 12 July 2006]

Viewers seem to be pretty much against this action flick, seeming to put it down because if IS an action flick, a fact that for this viewer prevents looking for the good parts of a movie that succeeds in making us think. Director Andy Cheng (also a co-writer for the script) has a background as a movie stunt coordinator and that talent serves him well in this fast paced, explosive, interesting film.

Alex Thomas (Cuba Gooding, Jr.) is a secret agent assigned to the President when an assassination occurs: Thomas takes a bullet for his beloved President (Jack Scalia) and comforts the First Lady (Anne Archer) when the President is pronounced dead. Thomas works for Head Agent Vaughn Stevens (James Woods) who comforts the grieving Thomas and sends him off duty to recover: Thomas goes off on a drinking binge and is discovered by an aggressive Pulitzer Prize news reporter Kate Crawford (Angie Harmon) and between the two of them they uncover a conspiracy that involves top ranking people. The perpetrator of the assassination is one Jack Baldwin (Peter Greene) who guides the events from is hidden space. Every lead Crawford uncovers is promptly destroyed by explosions or fires until the final confrontation of Baldwin with Thomas and Crawford. And just when the viewer thinks every step is utterly predictable, the ending leaves the truth about the assassination to the viewer...! Cuba Gooding, Jr. is a fine talent in search of a great role: in this film he does well underplaying his character with some of the subtleties that demonstrate more of his talent. Angie Harmon delivers a fine performance: she deserves more roles. Anne Archer remains a pleasure to watch, even in this small but pivotal role, and James Woods, James Selby, and to an extent the grossly disfigured, post multiple plastic surgeries Burt Reynolds create credible characters. This is not a great movie, but is certainly is one with some fine elements and offers promise for new director Andy Cheng in his stepped up role. Yes, it is a bit predictable until the end, but it is a far better film than many of the movies that had the experience of a theatrical run (this one went straight to DVD!). Worth an evening's watching. Grady Harp

Unbelievably Dreadful

[batmanatgotham · 1/10 · 27 October 2006]

So I'm looking to rent a DVD and I come across this movie called 'End Game'. It stars James Woods and Cuba Gooding JR and has the synopsis of a taught political thriller. Well worth a look then. Or so I thought.

Boy, was I wrong.

End Game has just about the most ridiculous plot I have ever had the displeasure of enduring. Now being something of a whodunnit, I can't really tear into it as I would like without 'ruining' it for those who have yet to experience this monstrosity. But questions such as 'Why has he/she/they done this?', and 'Where on earth did they get the resources to pull this off?' are all too abundant following the film's unintentionally hilarious conclusion.

As for the acting - you know those films where you can almost feel that an actor's realised that they've made a terrible mistake in signing on for a movie, and this then shows in their performance? This is one of those. Accompany this with a laughable script and seriously flawed, irritating direction and you have the recipe for cinematic poison.

Of course, this didn't make it to the cinema, and for the same reason you should not allow it into your living room; it is appalling.

Works very well... as an action movie

[MamaPapaXP · 7/10 · 3 May 2006]

Having read the prior reviews, I have to take umbrage at some of the hyper-critical comments. Yes, this film could have been better written, yes the editing and camera-work were a little less than stellar and yes, the acting from the ordinarily half-decent Ms Archer could have been, well, better. I even agree that the motive behind the plot was just a tad wishy-washy, (not to mention the phenomenal cost of setting such a plan up, and the secrecy issues that are an inevitability...)

However, look at the upside, (and gag the nay-sayers for just a moment,) this is a low/mid budget production starring at least two of the best actors around. It has a taut, relentless pace that keeps you interested, if not hooked. The action scenes are way, way better than you would expect (check out the truck/cuba/car sandwich and the shootout at the warehouse... hints of Woo in there...)

The story, while having a flimsy justification, does at least seem plausible if viewed with 'Action-Film-Goggles' and it is with this stylish eyewear that the aforementioned nay-sayers should be seeing this... This is a Saturday evening time killer, not 'Gone with the Wind'. When watched without too much expectation of perfection, this film succeeds at being exactly what it is: a good action-thriller.

A brief note to the 'denouement' critic... it makes a nice change for the villain to say 'up yours' and get away with it, and while the final scene did leave me wanting resolution it is, in the End Game (sic), acceptable.

Who did what, when, how and where?

[rebel392 · 1/10 · 3 October 2006]

I spent almost two hours watching a movie that I thought, with all the good actors in it, would be worth watching. I couldn't believe it when the movie ended and I had absolutely no idea what had happened.....I was mad because I could have used that time doing something else....I tried to figure it all out, but really had no clue. Thanks to those who figured it out and have explained it....right or wrong, it's better than not knowing anything!! Who was the lady in the movie with dark hair that we saw a couple of times driving away? How did First Lady know that her husband was cheating on her? At the end of the movie Kate said she would eventually find out the truth. Does this mean that we're going to be subjected to End Game 2?

End Game, Great action & cast

[ReedKalisher · 8/10 · 12 November 2005]

I love a good action film and this delivers non-stop. Cuba is (as always) excellent, as are Anne, James and the rest of the senior cast. I always love that big smile from Cuba, but never got it from this one. (The story is way too intense!) Without using a spoiler, I will say that I did have some trouble believing a 'civilian' (reporter) would be 'permitted' in on so much but HEY, it's a movie and it works. again, without giving away anything I might have envisioned several other options for the ending, but it still played well. Whatever minor flaws there were in the script (my opinion) were MORE than made up for by the action. It was well shot, but it's largely the editing that keeps you doubting your last guess. Just enough to tease, not enough to be 'confident'. Well worth the admission and time. Go see it!

Reed Kalisher S. Florida

Worth a watch!

[davyd-02237 · 7/10 · 8 December 2019]

You do have a good cast, an interesting story line with, perhaps, an ending which you might not expect which makes for something of an unsatisfactory conclusion. That aside theres plenty of action, a good cast which makes everything quite believable. Lots of activity, chases and such things. Nice cameo by Burt Reynolds. I would call this entertaining, save for the ending, definitely unsuitable for the kids!

a complete waste of time

[expatinasia · 2/10 · 1 May 2006]

Please, help the economy - spend your money elsewhere! The synopsis of the movie is: the First Lady has her husband assassinated because he was cheating on her. That's it. Undetected by anyone, except Cuba and Angie, she designs and implements a vast assassination conspiracy which no one knows about...and gets away completely free.

Some specific points are particularly hilarious: While standing in front of the president, Cuba a deflects the assassin's bullet...which then enters the back of the president's head.

Cuba and Angie watch film from a news camera, and they see...a clue. They go to great lengths to protect the film, believing that they are the only people that have a copy of this very public film.

Cuba speaks with a presidential staff member. The PSM comments that there was no conspiracy. Cuba claims there was more than one person involved. The PSM then rants that the conspiracy includes the FBI, the CIA, and the NSA. Gosh, I wonder is the PSM is involved.

Ms Archer, the First Lady, is a craptacular artist. Cuba can't make out a painting, and she says, "You're too close...stand back...look from a different perspective, look from my perspective." Can anyone miss THAT clue?

Truly Awful

[anirog · 1/10 · 23 May 2006]

End Game started well, the least said about the end the better. it seemed like things we're happening just to keep the plot going, for example the reporter who at first is a very inquisitive, intelligent person, half way through does something really stupid and totally out of character, we are given no reason for this apart from, the next scene wouldn't make sense without it. The whole story could have been told in about 30 minutes, it would have made an average TV political drama The brilliant Cuba Gooding Jr. is very watchable however and James Woods does an admirable job considering.

The end game was honestly one of the worst films I've ever seen......and that's saying something, I've seen Gigli.

Meandering

[nadenclan · 3/10 · 6 September 2006]

Predictable, hackneyed & poorly written. Foolishly I reasoned such a prominent cast would not be involved unless it had merit. I guess competition amongst actors is so intense these days (and will only get worse) that one cannot pick and choose much any more. Early on we were given an inkling who was was instrumental in the assassination and we had it rammed down our throats ever since. The movie lacked intrigue, giving us little insight into the victim and only one possible motive for the murder. Some of the discourse was, frankly, embarrassing! It's hard to believe anyone would even consider, let alone commit to, the spending of tens of millions of dollars to make this tripe.

Recompense my stubbed toe!

[dredgemortle · 3/10 · 21 March 2006]

This movie was craptacular. I was so emotionally uninvolved in every single character that the movies' biggest antagonist was, in fact, myself. I played it beautifully throughout; promising myself I would walk away, but only drinking another beer hoping it would auto-magically transform into something engrossing along the way. Even in this state, I couldn't help but notice that Cuba's acting was as flimsy as tracing paper. His obsessive dedication to his job was unconvincingly done as well as his one night binge after the failure of his own idiot standards. Burt came on the screen as a General, that's right, a General (who wears too much makeup). I fell into a frighteningly fast binge to rival Cuba's, except mine was real and I stubbed my toe. Recompense! Recompense my stubbed toe!

If you like Cuba Gooding Jr. or James Woods, definitely check it out.

[tarbosh22000 · 6/10 · 12 May 2010]

"End Game" is one of the biggest Direct-To-Video movies of the year. Like "Edison Force","The Big White", and "Grilled", it shows that any movie with a all-star cast and good premise can go DTV.

The plot: The president has been assassinated. Secret Service Agent Alex Thomas (Gooding Jr.) feels responsible. He starts to fall into a deep depression. When reporter Kate Crawford (Harmon) realizes that there's a conspiracy about the killing, she enlists Thomas's help. When they start to dig deeper, The assassins start to target them and all witnesses. Can they escape? This movie was slated to have a theatrical release, so the action scenes are 100 times better than your usual Seagal\fast cut crud.

The whole cast does a great job. I don't want to forget to mention James Woods and Burt Reynolds. They both put in their usual professionalism. They have a good confrontation in the beginning. The only problem with the movie is the ending, I won't spoil it, but I will say they don't stop while they're ahead.

Overall, "End Game" is one of the best straight to video movies I've seen in a long while and if you like Cuba Gooding Jr. Or Woods, definitely check it out.

For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Copy paste plot of a president's assassination

[m-d-kamutzki · 3/10 · 14 September 2006]

I didn't expect a movie as good as "In The Line of Fire" or an episode of "24", but it looked like this movie was made for TV and did a mediocre job at best. The (good) cast couldn't disguise the fact that the plot was all too predictable and actors had to struggle (they really try their best I think) through their lines of bad script, giving their rather flat characters any extras. When I watched the movie I got the feeling that I had seen most of this in other (better) movies. In it you had car chases, big shootouts, romance, plot twists etc. etc; This movie has none.

** Spoiler** As soon as you see another woman talking into the phone to Cuba's character, you know who's behind all this and all the hints you're being given ("you stand too close to the president, see it from my perspective.." ) sound silly.

If it were up to me (and maybe it's a good thing that it isn't) I would rewrite the plot like this:

First lady orders the murder of her husband because she is sick and tired of writing checks to Cuba all the time.

Christa Campbell's lips

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 11 October 2007]

This film premiered at the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival and then dropped out of sight, not opening in theaters, but going straight to video. Probably a wise choice. It is good enough for video and TV, but not quite good enough for the screen. It just doesn't have that something extra to make it a great film, but it is not a total waste of time, either.

I have to admit that I tuned in to see Christa Campbell, who plays the President's mistress. I didn't get to see anything more than her lips talking into the telephone. Big disappointment, but hey, it's Christa. It will keep me satisfied until my copy of Death By Engagement arrives.

It is the first I have seen of Cuba Gooding, Jr. in a long time, and he did a good job. Plenty of action as he goes after those responsible for the assignation of the President. Angie Harmon, one of the best Assistant DAs on Law and Order, was great as his partner in solving the mystery of who killed the President. Certainly an interesting twist to the usual assignation plot.

Always like seeing Anne Archer, and she was classy as a First lady. James Woods and Burt Reynolds had small but interesting parts.

Total disappointment!

[AndyMcGinnis · 1/10 · 16 June 2006]

How unfortunate, to have so many of my "a" list, and good "b" list actors agree to do this movie, but they did, and that is what sucked me into watching it. I had never heard of this movie, but there was Cuba Gooding Jr. right on the DVD cover, and James Woods in the background how bad can it be? In a word Very! This movie starts o.k. has some twists and turns, then just lays an egg. The ending was so weak, it was as if the writer got called away and his 4 year old son sat down at the type writer and hacked out the ending. How ironic a for a movie titled "The end game" to have such a poor one. These are the types of movies that can move "a" list actors to the "b" list in hurry. I hope Cuba Gooding JR, and James Woods don't make a habit of this.

I'm the lone voice!

[chriscopp · 10/10 · 3 June 2008]

I guess I'm the only one reviewing this excellent movie who thought it was very good, up there with the best of the conspiracy movies. I thought the script was well written, the dialogue pared down to essentials, characterisation of the protagonists was well thought out and the actors were all top notch, the directing was snappy and economical with a near documentary feel...shot on a grainy film..this added to the gritty feel of the movie (not face powder as one guy on the message board states...it's film grain!!).

The plot was slowly revealed and the twists and turns unravelled nicely. A surprise ending....sexy leads and a cooking music score all added to my enjoyment, it held my attention and suspended my disbelief.

A bluddy good film!

It had me right up until the end

[lcampbell022892 · 7/10 · 26 January 2012]

This movie had a crazy good trailer, crazy good cast, and I was very excited to see it. The plot was action packed and mysterious. Just the right ingredients for a great thriller.

Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Angie Harmon worked very well together. Great chemistry and clever quips between the two of them. The supporting cast was great and added a whole new layer to the plot. Being on the run from potential bad guys (everyone's a suspect), there are some tense moments.

And the bad guys? The bad guys were very scary and very effective. I tell ya, this movie had it all. I was keyed on the entire time. From beginning to end. And just when you think you know who did it --- exactly. The ending will leave you wanting more, believe me.

Bad Bad Bad

[Andrew-982 · 2/10 · 23 May 2006]

This movie was like a bad indie with A-list talent. The plot was silly, all the way to the end. It reminded me very much of something churned out for the home video market in the 1980's. I would have given it a one, but there were brief moments when you could see the actors really really straining to make this worthwhile. I think the worst thing was the underwater scene's held off of the dock. The underwater lighting seemed to come from no were, and whenever someone we were supposed to care about was close to running out of air, this air tank would kind of appear. I would avoid this, unless there is nothing else on the shelf. Good Day.

Movie was a waste of Time

[eduardoperucci · 3/10 · 21 May 2006]

This Movie had some great actors in it! Unfortunately they had forgotten how to act. I was hoping the movie would get better as it went along but the acting was so robotic it was doomed from the very start. It actually appeared that maybe the actors were reading from a script the whole time. Maybe it was the Musical score or the Director himself, but one thing is for sure the Make-up artist needs to get another job ! The Facial Powder was so thick you could see it caked on the actors faces ! Would not recommend this movie to anyone, no wonder it never hit the Theaters. Cuba Gooding Jr. / James Woods shame on you guys for not giving it your all. The Plot was great just needed a whole lot more.

Pure crap

[DashTheGreat · 1/10 · 16 October 2006]

SPOILERS AHEAD

This is one of the worst movies ever made - it's that simple. There is not one redeeming quality about this movie. The first 10 minutes are quite tricky - they actually lead you to believe that this film will be shocking and will have you on the edge of your seat. Instead, you will spend 83 minutes punching yourself while watching stolen and poorly made scenes run without any organization. The lake was ridiculous, looked like an aquarium, and had the same plant in different parts of the lake bed. Characters show their advanced teleportation powers, for example Alex Thomas who falls into the lake (drunk), and then ends up on his boat in an impossible position. Angie Harmon put up a pitiful performance as Kate, made worse by the space-time continuum rupturing dialog that appears to have been written at the last minute by a fifth grader. An example of this would be when she said, "Flashlight!" in such a stupid manner that it shows the threshold of how much a human body can cringe before it snaps in half. Finally, the editing of this movie was by far the most bizarre and horrific that I have ever seen. It was like the cameramen were a bunch of chimps who had been given camcorders by scientists. An example of this would be when we suddenly get a closeup of the headlight on Alex's car. I would bet that there was little to no time spent editing this movie. The ending was absolutely pathetic. The writers were obviously trying to create some sort of mysterious plot line that made the viewer say, "oh yeah!" Instead, we're left to view some dumb painting of a spider that somehow fits into the story line. Unfortunately, there is not one perspective in the millions out there that could save this movie from being a festering piece of crap.

I give this a .5 out of 10, the .5 being from the fact that this movie was recorded on film instead of becoming a picture book.