Genuine moments of laughter coupled with a surprising dose of enjoyable action filmmaking, makes Game Night a crime-comedy hybrid more than worthy to play along with.
It is during this time of the year, post awards season, where the shackles are unleashed, and all matter of genre fodder is plunked into cinemas. Usually horror or comedy, the quality of the films is, usually, not that very good. This is especially true of run-of-the-mill comedies of high novelty, yet little entertainment.
But occasionally, a surprise of a movie like Game Night decides to, well, crash the party. Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (Vacation), and written by Mark Perez (Accepted), Game Night succeeds on the back of entertaining turns by the ever-personable duo of Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, consistently funny scenarios, and a surprising dose of entertaining action filmmaking that helps in upping the stakes in this mistaken identity comedy.
Bateman and McAdams star as Max and Annie, a married couple whose super-competitive approach to everything has their weekly “game nights” become a thing of legend amongst their tight-knit group of friends. When Max’s older and more successful brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) re-enters his life with the promise of an “epic” game night of his own design, things become way too real when a murder mystery spirals out of control.
Granted, the premise of “regular couple gets in over their heads” has been beaten to death over the last few years, with mention to Date Night (good) and Killers (not so good) as examples of the varied ways this approach can go. Yet Game Night has a distinct advantage of being an on point entertaining watch, as Daly and Goldstein hit those comedic and action beats with pinpoint precision.
Performances from all involved are a hoot. Bateman and McAdams prove to be a charismatic pairing, more than able to lead the film through situations funny and dire. One scene involving McAdams’ attempted extraction of a bullet from Bateman’s arm, with nothing more than a pocket knife, chew-toy, and bottle of chardonnay, could quite possibly go-down as one of the funniest of the year (so far.)
Supporting turns from a game cast are also fun, with special mention to Kyle Chandler’s seedy older brother, Billy Magnussen’s oblivious man-whore, and Lamorne Morris’ cynical husband rattled by his wife’s infidelity. The real standout, however, is Jesse Plemons as Gary, a super creepy police officer and neighbour to Max and Annie, whose permanent scowl and complete lack of approachable personality makes for an awkwardly hilarious performance.
At 100 minutes, Game Night does a good job establishing a steady pace and hits its comedic spots at the right moments. However, its overfondness for its twisty plot structure can get a little tiresome. Regardless, with laughs this good and action scenes hitting above average, Game Night proves to be more than an early year throwaway, but rather a lively and entertaining genre mash-up with personality to spare.
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