Game Night - Movie Review

I love a good comedy. The problem is, good comedies are hard to come by. I wasn't sure what to think about the trailers for Game Night, but I like Jason Bateman. His comedy films are usually pretty good. I figured this film was a low risk for being a flop, and hey, with Moviepass, it didn't cost me anything extra to see it. While there are a couple of Oscar nominated films I have yet to see, I felt in the mood for something lighter yesterday evening.

Max (Bateman) is competitive. He takes his gaming serious. Whether it is trivia night at the local bar or game night at the house, he is always in to win. His wife Annie (Rachel McAdams) is as competitive as he is. In fact, they met at trivia night. It was love at first factoid. Max is such a game geek, he proposed to Annie in a game of charades. The couple host a game night at their house on the weekend. The weird cop nextdoor (Jesse Plemons) isn't invited. It's just weird since he broke up with his wife Debbie and...well, he is just weird. When Max's brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) arrives in town, game night is taken up a notch. That is sort of what Brooks does. He is better at everything than his brother. But everything may not be as it seems.

When Brooks plans game night, he takes the event to a different level, hiring a local company to stage a kidnapping game. However, the game is hijacked, resulting in Brooks being kidnapped by real thugs. As game night escalates, the couple must solve the mystery with the help of their friends. Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and his wife Michelle (Kylie Bunberry) sort out their marital issues while helping solve the mystery. Ryan (Billy Magnussen) usually brings dumb blondes to game night. Tonight, he brings in a ringer, Sarah (Sharon Horgan). But there might just be some chemistry in the cards between the two. Together, the friends must battle bad guys, solve clues and save Brooks. And make the audience chuckle in the process.

Game Night is well written. It is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. Or is that a mystery wrapped within an enigma? Whatever the case, the film is engaging. Interesting characters, an intricate plot and rapid fire pacing keep the laughs coming in this surprisingly fresh film. It may have shades of other films, but it is fairly unique. The plot was mildly predictable, but had enough side tracks to keep viewers off balance. In the end, it was a rewarding, fun, film to watch.

Jason Bateman has incredible comic timing. He is part straight man, part comic. He can generally make me laugh. He is great with McAdams, who he also has genuine chemistry with. I was buying the whole couple angle. The rest of the cast was packed with talent (to include a cameo by Dexter's Michael C. Hall). But the actor who I think really clinched this film for me was Plemons. He lent an eerie charm to the film with a great performance. Solid casting allowed this film to reach it's potential. As a comedy, it succeeded brilliantly.

Game Night is rated R. It has a run time of one hour, forty minutes. The film length felt precise. There was no lagging in this action-packed comedy. The film moved along at a nice clip without getting bogged down in what turned out to be a rather intricate plot. The rating stems from the violence. While there is plenty of sexuality in terms of language and thematic references, the violence has a decent gore factor for a comedy. From gunshots to watching a guy get sucked into a jet engine, there is plenty of blood. And sometimes the attempts to fix things made them worse. There is at least one cringe worthy scene in this film. Language and alcohol may also have affected the ratings. Definitely a teen audience or older film.

Game Night was good enough that I would recommend seeing it at the theater. As comedies go, this one was pretty good. It kept me interested throughout. It was a silly premise and was far fetched. But I laughed a lot. Not nearly as much as I laughed at, say, Superbad. But I laughed plenty. The characters were good, the actors were spot on, the script was interesting, and most importantly, I laughed. Not a lot of food for thought, but plenty of action and comedy. 7.5/10.

Photos and Trailer property of Aggregate Films.