Review of Game Night (2018) by Lane Z — 11 Jul 2018

As far as group comedies go revolving around such a silly premise, Game Night does just enough to succeed thanks to its supremely talented cast and inventive plot twists dotting the two-hour run time.

Great to see John Francis Daley behind the camera. He's provided enough laughs in front of it to know a thing or two about delivering them as a director. While the film centers mostly on Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams' characters, and rightfully so, I am always open for more Kyle Chandler. He goes counter-type in this role, and the movie is all the better for it. Sharon Horgan ,Lamorne Morris, and Billy Magnussen are the reserves here, but all three have a great resume behind them in comedy. Jesse Plemons needs more roles like this. He's as great as the rest.

However, where Game Night can lose some interest fr viewers is when the hijinks aren't happening. Transition periods from location to location in the movie are slowed down a bit too much. The film is at its strongest when dealing with subtle reoccurring inside jokes the film has with the audience: the Denzel Washington story, Magnussen's character's stupidity, or Bateman's character always trying to one-up his brother. On the reverse side, the big set pieces like the CGI infused egg thievery add to the absurdity in a negative way just because of how the scene looks.

Maybe I didn't see enough dark comedy and the film didn't quite feel rated R enough to really let its cast members loose, but Game Night still comes out as an enjoyable watch because of the cast members.