Funny Games, A film by Michael Haneke Starring Naomi Watts and Tim Roth Funny Games is the story of a family whose trip to their lake house is rudely interrupted by a pair of serial killers. It is director Michael Haneke’s first attempt to break the U.S. and he’s using the tactic of remaking a cult classic that he made before but with the subtle difference of replacing French speaking actors with American sounding, English speaking celebrities who like to do indie-flicks.

The movie is supposedly an exploration of how we all allow violence into our homes and our lives through the media. The less cerebral story though is that George (Tim Roth), Anna (Naomi Watts) and their ten year old son, Georgie are spending a week in their house on the lake. Once there, they are taken hostage by a pair of white-gloved serial killers who are picking their way through the neighbourhood unbeknownst to the world at large. As is standard practise with most thrillers the early pace is very slow.

I know the director is building suspense but he goes overboard when going through the tedium of the two Georges setting up their boat for a spot of sailing. If you can withstand the initial onslaught of boredom and stick with the plot then you will be rewarded with a solid stretch of entertainment. The serial killers subject the family to increasingly intense bouts of physical and mental torture. Haneke handles the violence very well. He doesn’t just whip it out and start waving it in your face. When violence does occur, the camera is generally focused on one of the other family members giving a sense of confusion and tension that adds to the terror for the audience.

This central section of the movie really grips you but unfortunately it doesn’t last and Haneke loses the plot. An absolutely huge plot twist takes effect way too early and, despite maintaining the suspense for a short time afterwards, the movie stumbles into an embarrassingly messy ending. I can’t figure out whether Haneke had a great idea for a film but had no way to finish it so he just used a load of crazy, confusing techniques to distract the audience from how bad the ending was. Or did he want to make his mark on cinema by using innovative techniques but got distracted by a good story and tried to cram them all in to the last half-hour.

If you liked ‘Friday the 13th’ when you were young but grew up to have a BMW and a family then this could be the movie for you(but don’t bring the kids). Also if you like the idea of Naomi Watts in her undies for a half-hour this should appeal to you as well. For everybody else it’s a middle-of-the-road film about middle-class family from middle-America with a slow start, poor finish but very very good middle. Worth seeing but not essential.