For years competition and game nights are what have brought Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams) together with their friends. Their first date was after a trivia contest, their first dance was together on Dance Dance Revolution and their weekly Game Night has been a source of pleasure and enjoyment for them and their closest confidants. When Max’s brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes to town for the first time in a while, he decides that he will host the game night and attempt to one up his brother. During his party things go sour and Brooks appears to be kidnapped. Is this part of his master plan to make his brother’s game nights look inferior, or are people’s lives actually in danger?
Game Night is always fun; it brings friends and family together to participate in healthy and exciting competition. While it seems obvious that the film would take a turn and veer (at least) slightly from the typical game night, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s Game Night strays so far from the expected journey that it completely throws audiences for a loop. It doesn’t take long for the story to get twisted and take audiences down a rabbit hole full of murder, drug smuggling and theft. The entirely unexpected story is a brilliant surprise and enormously captivating. Having audiences thrown off as quickly as they are changes the game and keeps them guessing, unable to read between the lines and figure anything out before it happens. Providing me the opportunity to think about and attempt to understand what is taking place and what will happen next interested me even more in the film than I already was.
I’ve always found Bateman and McAdams to be adequate actors, but not entirely capable of blowing audiences’ minds. They are more than capable of holding their own and delivering levels of comedy. They are articulate in their approach toward comedy, making their humor clear and enjoyable. Game Night finds the two in a familiar situation, as they, once again, meet expectations and leave audiences in stitches throughout the film. What does shock audiences to some degree is the chemistry that the two have with one another. Having only starred in one other film together (State of Play) and having shared significantly less screen time than they do in this film, audiences do not expect too much from them in terms of chemistry, but they deliver better than anyone could have hoped. Chandler is a wonderful support, helping to bond each of the others together and attract audiences with his eccentric cars and houses. His personality, while often a bit irritating, is one that typically attracts those around him. Daley and Goldstein, along with writer Mark Perez, use Chandler as a glue of sorts. Like I’ve mentioned, he keeps the characters together, and, better yet, is the propeller that keeps the story moving forward.
Some of the nonsensical aspects of the film remind me of Horrible Bosses 2, which, interestingly enough, also stars Bateman. A combination of death-riddled wild goose chases and raunchy, yet innocent humor drive the film, and the characters and the audiences’ interest in the story being told. There is a wide range of humor that continues to keep audiences engaged throughout. With Bateman, McAdams, Chandler and the rest of the supporting cast each bringing their own unique style of acting and humor, the cornucopia of talents present in Game Night makes the film unique and enjoyable from the opening lines until the credits finish rolling.
Directed by John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein. Written by Mark Perez. Starring Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Sharon Horgan, Billy Magnussen, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10
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