In 1997, a movie that starred Mel Gibson and Dermot Mulroney would’ve looked promising. In 2022… not as much, especially when we find them attached to a direct-to-video project.

That doesn’t inevitably mean that Agent Game will turn into a dud, however. Hope springs eternal and all that.

Harris (Mulroney) works as an interrogator at a CIA “black site”. When an operation goes awry, Harris finds himself stuck as the scapegoat.

To save his skin, Harris goes rogue and needs to avoid a team tasked to find and neutralize him. This leads him on a dangerous adventure to remain alive and clear his name.

As noted at the start, Game comes with two fairly prominent stars, and the positives of the cast don’t end there. The film also features Jason Isaacs and Barkhad Abdi, an Oscar nominee for 2013’s Captain Phillips.

The presence of these talented actors again works to inflate my expectations for Game - in theory. I see enough direct-to-video thrillers to know that one shouldn’t anticipate much from them so any quality effort comes as a pleasant surprise.

Game doesn’t come as a pleasant surprise.

Instead, Game brings us a nearly incoherent story that lacks even the most vague sense of tension or excitement. That synopsis I provided earlier? Toss it out the window.

Yes, the summary covers the basics, but Game conveys these elements in such a flawed manner that it becomes tough to piece together exactly what narrative the movie intends to tell. Much of the time, the film comes across as a mix of vaguely connected semi-ominous scenes in search of an actual plot.

Boy, does Game come with a murky “storyline”. I guess it all sorta kinda pieces together, but it seems difficult to locate the throughline, as the end product becomes nearly incomprehensible.

This might feel more tolerable if Game actually tossed in some excitement along the way. Unfortunately, action scenes appear sporadically and feel perfunctory at best.

At no point do we invest in any of the characters, and the violent sequences seem rudimentary at best. Various people shoot at each other, stuff blows up, yadda yadda.

Despite the talented cast, none of the actors can do anything with their thin characters. They all seem less than enchanted with the project – and I suspect Gibson shot his scenes in an afternoon, especially since his sequences come with a conspicuous lack of interaction with most of his castmates.

I hope Mel got a nice paycheck for his brief period of work, as Agent Game won’t help his sputtering career. Clumsy, dull and completely forgettable, this turns into a bad movie.

Agent Game appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. The movie offered a reasonably appealing presentation.

For the most part, sharpness worked well. Some softness occasionally hit wide elements and interiors, but the majority of the movie boasted fairly accurate delineation.

No signs of jagged edges or moiré effects materialized, and I witnessed no instances of edge haloes. Print flaws also failed to mar the proceedings.

To the surprise of no one, Game went with a mix of cool blue and teal much of the time, though amber materialized as well. While these didn’t dazzle, they seemed suitable for the design choices.

Blacks seemed dense and deep, while shadows offered appropriate smoothness and clarity for the most part, though some low-light shots felt a little murky – and some weak day-for-night photography didn’t help. In general, the image worked pretty well.

In addition, the movie’s DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack suited the story. The mix mostly emphasizes general atmosphere and music.

Those components work fine, and the soundscape broadens when necessary. Most of those moments stem from occasional gunfire, so don’t expect a lot of theatrics, but the soundfield feels appropriate for the narrative.

Audio quality worked fine, with speech that appeared natural and concise. The score came across with nice clarity and range.

Effects added good impact and accuracy, and I heard no distortion or other issues related to those elements. Though not stunning, the soundtrack felt appropriate for the movie.

A few extras complete the disc, and we get an audio commentary from director Grant S. Johnson. He offers a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, influences, cast and performances, editing and cinematography, sets and locations, music, effects, and related topics.

Johnson delivers a pretty good commentary. He touches on a positive array of domains and makes this an informative view of his film.

Subterfuge: Playing the Agent Game runs 23 minutes, 36 seconds. It brings notes from Johnson, co-writer Tyler W. Konney, and actors Katie Cassidy, Adan Canto, Rhys Coiro, Mel Gibson, Jason Isaacs, Dermot Mulroney, Annie Ilonzeh and Barkhad Abdi.

“Subterfuge” covers story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, the impact of COVID on the shoot, photography, stunts and action.

We get a pretty basic overview here. “Subterfuge” covers the production in a rudimentary manner that conveys some decent info but lacks real depth.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Game. It includes the same extras as the Blu-ray.

Even by the low standards of direct-to-video thrillers, Agent Game seems lackluster. The presence of some prominent actors raises hopes, but the end result seems cheap and incoherent. The Blu-ray brings generally good picture and audio as well as a few bonus materials. Nothing about this mess works.