End Game

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.

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?

After secret service agent Alex Thomas (Cuba Gooding Jr) gets shot trying to protect the President of the United States who's assassinated the question becomes who hired the dead shooter and why in this fairly average action thriller. The bottom line is they assembled a decent cast and a respectful budget to swim thru poor writing and cliches by the boatload.

Angie Harmon is the reporter who digs into the events, won't let things go and teams up with the secret service agent in pursuit of the truth. When everyone she talks to gets killed you know the direction we're heading in. By the time a bunch of mercs try to kill them both the writing is on the wall. The story is so routine, predictable to a fault that it's very easy to follow.

At first glance, there seems to be a lot to like. The film is shot well, polished and acted by a cast of recognizable faces. James Woods, Anne Archer, Peter Greene, Jack Scalia, Burt Reynolds and Benito Martinez all appear in supporting roles. However factor in the story that barely holds your attention and an ending, payoff that is massively underwhelming and you see why the cast alone can't salvage this tale.

We've had plenty of films explore presidential assassination before. I've seen others explore secret service members undivided loyalty to the President. Clint Eastwood's 'Absolute Power' comes to mind. The well worn issue of infidelity. 'End Game' goes thru the paces and pays the price ultimately not being very memorable or worthy of even a lazy Sunday afternoon viewing.

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.

An enjoyable film that has a decent pace to it, free of bad language which makes a nice change and has a great cast. The biggest question mark over it is the presence and closeness of a journalist to the investigation. That said it helps the story telling and the flow of the film, at the end of the day it is make believe and not worth getting hung up on. This film should be enjoyed for what it is, an action film.