Review of Game Night (2018) by O Y — 25 Feb 2018

A very funny adult comedy based around a game night. This movie was unexpected for me. I wanted to see it since I myself love having game nights, but I did not expect it to be so dark and smart at the same time.

We follow Max (Jason Bateman) and his wife Annie (Rachel McAdams) who are very competitive. They love games and host a weekly game night at their house. Their best friends join them which includes: Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and Michelle (Kylie Bunbury) who end up dealing with a slight miscommunication.

Then there's Ryan (Billy Magnussen) who isn't quite bright. This game night in particular follows our protagonists as they visit Brooks (Kyle Chandler) Max's brother who is much more successful than him.

Brooks is always undermining Max, but seems to be on a better patch. This game is different from a normal charades or board games. This is an interactive game where they have to find someone who will be randomly kidnapped by someone.

Ryan invites a co-worker to this particular game named Sarah (Sharon Horgan) in hopes of finally winning. Things turn sour when a group of men break into Brooks home, viciously beat him and kidnap him.

The group thinking this is part of the game continues along not knowing what awaits them in a very adventurous night. The movie is hilarious. It does really well with the dark comedy aspect and it's actually not very predictable.

Quite a few twists here. I would say Bateman and McAdams are extremely good in this one and have some great chemistry. They compliment each other very well and it makes you care about them. The supporting cast is great from dumb ass Ryan to the bickering of Kevin and Michelle it's just plain funny.

Not to mention Jesse Plemons plays Max and Annie's creepy neighbor named Gary who is absolutely a scene stealer. The only gripe I have is the last 15 minutes take kinda a random right turn that I didn't quite care about, but it's a small gripe after how well the rest of the film is.

Overall, solid comedy that I highly recommend checking out!