Review of Game Night (2018) by Glenn G — 10 Mar 2018

NOT SORRY! - My Review of GAME NIGHT (3 Stars).

Sometimes a low stakes, ultimately forgettable movie hits you in the sweet spot and makes for a cute, fun night out, and nothing more. This perfectly describes my reaction to GAME NIGHT from writer Mark Perez and directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. It's a high concept comedy that remembers to be funny all the way through, is populated by fun, but not terribly deep characters, and proves a successful mix of wildly varying tones.

Max and Annie (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams) live in suburbia, but have fallen into a bit of a rut. They host a game night for their closest friends when things get kicked up a notch when Max's brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes to visit. To make things more exciting, he hosts a game night which revolves around a murder mystery they must solve. Things take a dark turn when real thugs get involved, leading to a kidnapping, shots fired, real blood...and suddenly their evening of fun turns into a life or death situation.

In the spirit of such 80s all-in-one-evening movies as INTO THE NIGHT and AFTER HOURS, our cast wanders around trying to decipher what's real and what's not. Luckily, the cast, which also includes Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan Lamorne Morris (NEW GIRL), and Kylie Bunbury, keeps things fun and light even when the violence turns visceral. It's a tonal achievement reminiscent of the adrenaline shot scene in PULP FICTION, where I wasn't sure whether to laugh or puke, but either way, I enjoyed the experience.

Adding a lot to the proceedings comes Jesse Plemons as the odd next door neighbor Gary, a police officer who used to attend game night with his ex-wfie, but has now found himself cast aside. He plays such an indelible creep, stroking his dog while giving a great death stare to his former friends. Between this and his stellar performance in BLACK MIRROR, Plemons has started out 2018 in a fantastic way. With his impressive range, he fills the Phillip Seymour Hoffman void so well. I look forward to watching his career blossom.

Despite this being a fairly weightless comedy caper, Bateman and particularly McAdams have such a winning rapport. Is there another female actor alive as adorable as McAdams? Remember, she even made uber-villain Regina George from MEAN GIRLS into someone hilariously compelling. The two of them embody neurotic confusion so well, making them enormously root-able. Magnussen, however, nearly walks away with the whole movie, building on his scene-stealing work in such films as INGRID GOES WEST and INTO THE WOODS. His buffoon, ladykiller Ryan here makes you sit up straight and wonder what idiotic thing he'll say next. He's a ton of fun and someone to watch.

I enjoyed the time the filmmakers have taken with such set pieces as the initial home invasion or the downright hilarious conveyer belt scene, which contains the single best payoff in the movie. In fact, GAME NIGHT feels much more cinematic than it has a right to be, with the directors really finding a visual path through the shenanigans. Movies like these got made a lot in the 80s. GAME NIGHT reminded me of RISKY BUSINESS in its ability to find moments where sound and cinematography mattered. Still, it's pretty disposable stuff. It's funny and smart...but, much like spending an evening playing RISK, it's not getting remembered in the morning.