"The Game" and The Appointment in Sumarra

This movie, "The Game" surrounds the main character Nicholas whose a relatively successful investment banker on Wall Street in late 90's New York City. He is plunged into a realm of fantasy, propelled by a life-size role playing game. Designed by an up and coming business CRS, or Consumer Recreation Services, the game is set forth by Nicholas' brother as a birthday surprise. The goal of the game was to make Nicholas realize what's missing from his life and why. He feared that upon his 40th birthday he would revert to his fathers fate, which was suicide.

So for his 40th birthday, his brother Conrad tells him about CRS and how they saved his life, little did Nicholas know that CRS went to any and every drastic measure to ensure the plan went exactly right. They planted actors in every facet of his life and eventually take everything he has. He begins to suspect that CRS was all a ploy to steal his identity.

However, it was all Conrads plan for him to end up on the roof and eventually jump after he accidentally "shoots" his brother thinking him to be CRS. All the while, I thought about how in all his attempt to escape his suicidal fate of his father, he was nevertheless a victim of that same fate.

This movie reminded me of the story "Appointment in Sumarra" in which a man travels to a market in Baghdad and runs into death, death talks to the man and scares him away. He ran home and told his friend, his friend than went to market to talk to death, while the other man was trying to avoid Baghdad's market to go to Sumarra's. So when his friend asked why he scared the man, death replied: I didn't expect to see him here, I have an appointment with him tonight in Sumarra."

So when you think about it, the movie "The Game" is identical in plot to Appointment in Sumarra. By avoiding his death, both the man and Nicholas eventually made their fate come true.