America’s past time isn’t baseball as we all have thought its violent entertainment. I’m sure that’s a polarizing way to open a review, as some will agree and some won’t. But there’s no other way around it. We turn to the news to see what’s going on, and in response to that, the news gives us violence. Murder, war, death, all smashing through our media outlets, TV, radio, internet, and we accept it. If it wasn’t accepted, then why has the news continued to show us it? We want it.

Most will agree watching the news isn’t entertainment, but it stems from there. In our music, literature, and film, violence reigns supreme. Horror films have always been popular and in recent years we’ve accepted this so called "torture porn" cycle of horror. If not, then why do they continue to make them? We’ve paid to see them, so we get more. The last two Oscar winning Best Pictures have been violent opuses. We have an administration thriving on war, murder is a front page news article, and we slow down to see the mutilated remains at a car crash.

Most of what I’ve said seems brash, but in "Funny Games", it’s slapped on a platter ready for us to devour it. The narrative is quite simple. A rich family is ready to enjoy their time away at their summer resort, when two young men, who are very polite, just won’t leave. Michael Haneke is remaking his own film from 1998, in hopes of having it seen widely, oh so said his producers. Haneke has a background in psychology, so there’s more to him remaking his own film, especially in his Hollywood debut, than his producers think. By using American actors for his American debut, he is employing what he sees from his native Austria. Which in turn, is one of a few fascinating comments that this film makes.

By giving Americans want they want in entertainment, violence, this could lead to another damaging view of America. If Europeans think we are a culture of violence, then how do we expect to shape a country riveted in violence?

Without getting too deep into politics, such a theory could be made. But the film is really an examination of what we like in our entertainment, for good or bad. If you leave the theater, maybe then you have taken a stand against what Haneke believes, if you stay, like I did, then why do we like violence? Haneke gives us our violence in spades. While not in a graphic "Hostel" or "Saw" like fashion, his deliberate long takes of scenes like Naomi Watts gathering herself after her son is brutally shot, half nude, and tied up, is a long winded exercise in violence.

While Haneke didn’t show anything specific, the implied is worse, because he has manipulated us much like the young boys have the family. By not showing us the actual violence, Haneke leaves us in our own American way, to imagine the scenes he didn’t show. It’s quite brilliant, because as the old adage goes, our imagination can think of things far worse than any filmmaker can show on screen.

The long static shots that Haneke is known for force us after our imagination stops thinking about the violent act, to endure, much like Tim Roth and Naomi Watts have too. This endurance is grueling and is the sole reason why some people will have a problem with the film. We are so use to quick cuts away, being forced to ride this out will test our patience. What’s the reward? Entertainment.

It’s inevitable the outcome of the film once you start the ride with Peter and Paul, the two young perpetrators. Maybe the one flaw with "Funny Games" is the role reality plays in. Is it a movie, an exercise, or a statement? Paul every once in a while gleefully breaks the fourth wall to ask us various things, like "I bet you’re siding with them" or acknowledging our presence as if they’re a ringmaster hosting a circus for us to enjoy. This again underlines the themes of "Funny Games", so if this fourth wall breaking bothers you, then the ’movie’ part might not work, since you’re aware of the exercise. Most people might think Haneke has over-stepped his theme and hurt the film, because of his finger wagging. Well, that’s one opinion of "Funny Games". My initial opening sentence of the review, I stated it might polarize you. "Funny Games" is certainly made for polarizing a certain audience, so reaction will vary.

Will you find enjoyment in seeing this film? Ask yourself, either during or after the film, were you not entertained?