Funny Games

Apr 4 2008 by The Journal

(1hr 51mins) Starring: Naomi Watts, Tim Roth, Michael Pitt, Brady Corbet. Director: Michael Haneke

IGNORANCE is bliss when it comes to Michael Haneke’s contemporary update of his explosive 1997 film of the same name.

Remade virtually shot for shot, Funny Games is a violent thriller about a family facing the nightmare ordeal of a home invasion.

The Austrian writer-director transplants the brutality from Europe to a picturesque lakeside home in Long Island.

It is an ominously tranquil setting for the sadistic mind games that leave us teetering on the edge of our seats... so long as you haven’t been scared witless by the original.

Anna (Naomi Watts), George (Tim Roth) and their young son Georgie (Devon Gearheart) arrive at their summer retreat.

Father and son continue to renovate the family’s sailing boat while Anna prepares lunch, only to be interrupted by Peter (Brady Corbet), who has been sent from next door for some eggs.

The wife feels increasingly uncomfortable in the stranger’s presence and things get worse when Peter’s friend Paul (Michael Pitt) arrives.

Anna’s mounting dread is realised when the duo take the family hostage. “You bet that by nine o’clock tomorrow you’ll be alive and we bet you’ll be dead,” grins Paul.

Funny Games is horribly tense. Watts delivers a powerful performance as the embattled mother who risks her life to shield her family, while Pitt and Corbet are deliciously evil.