Stubs - Game Night

Game Night (2018) Starring: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Jesse Plemons, Michael C. Hall, Kyle Chandler Directed by John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein Screenplay by Mark Perez. Produced by John Davis, John Fox, Jason Bateman, James Garavente. Run Time: 100 minutes. USA. Color. Comedy, Black Comedy

Sometimes it’s not possible to catch every movie you want to see in the theater. While Trophy Unlocked supports the theatrical experience when it comes to watching first release films, it is not always possible. Either not everyone wants to see a movie or there are other things going on at the time. Such was the case with Game Night, a black comedy from New Line Cinema that was released on February 23, 2018.

Max Davis (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams) are a couple drawn together through their love of games. They start out being opposing captains on trivia teams but end up dating and marrying while staying close with their friends Ryan (Billy Magnussen), and married couple Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and Michelle (Kylie Bunbury), through regular game nights. Ryan, who is single, will bring a date, most of which with IQs that can be measured with a tire pressure gauge.

The friends gathered for the game night include Michelle (Kylie Bunbury), Kevin (Lamorne Morris),
Ryan (Billy Magnussen), Sarah Darcy (Sharon Horgan), Max Davis (Jason Bateman)
and Annie (Rachel McAdams).

Max and Annie are happy, except for one thing; they can’t get pregnant. Max appears to be the problem here and his sperm problems apparently have their origins in his anxiety about the impending visit from Max’s brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler), who is a successful (rich) venture capitalist. Brooks is someone whom Max never seems to be able to beat and who constantly seems to one-up his brother. He even drives the car that Max has always wanted, a red 1976 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C3.

Brooks, who is in town on business, wants in on game night and invites everyone over to his rental house, promising to take this game night to a new level. Uninvited is Gary Kingsbury (Jesse Plemons), the divorced neighbor to Max and Annie. Ryan brings Sarah Darcy (Sharon Horgan), who is not only smarter than Ryan’s usual dates but is also way smarter than him as well.

Board games are not in Brooks' (Kyle Chandler) plans for the game night he's hosting.

Brooks shuns the usual board games for an interactive role-playing mystery game, which starts with the arrival of an FBI Agent (Jeffrey Wright). However, the fake game gets taken over by real events, in which Brooks is forcibly kidnapped and held for ransom. I don’t want to get too much further into the plot, as the film is only now getting a home video release, but Brooks turns out not to be everything he is supposed to be.

The rest of the movie is filled with action and humor as game players become sleuths, trying to unravel a real-life mystery and avoid being killed in the process. They are in a situation where they don’t always know who they can trust and which is a game and which is real. Even when they’re convinced things are real, they are really only part of a game and vice versa.

There is also some very good action camera work, especially in a scene with a Fabergé Egg being tossed around like a football. The establishing shots also make the scenery look like game pieces in a board game. Very effective given the theme of the movie.

The screenplay is smartly written and doesn’t shy away from adult talk, though this is far from a curse fest. The plot is a little convoluted though easy to follow. Like most screenplays, there are some holes but nothing too big to overlook. The relationships between the characters are made to feel very believable, whether its husband and wife, friends or siblings.

Jason Bateman’s comedic skills are on display here. Some of his best lines are said with deadpan delivery, adding to their effectiveness, almost as if he is improvising as he goes along. He comes from a comedy background, having appeared in TV sitcoms like Silver Spoon, The Hogan Family and Arrested Development. He’s also appeared in such films as s Teen Wolf Too (1987), The Break-Up (2006), Juno (2007), Hancock (2008), Up in the Air (2009), Couples Retreat (2009), Extract (2009), The Switch (2010), Horrible Bosses (2011) and Office Christmas Party (2016) to name a few.

Rachel McAdams has had a more varied career, starring in dramas like Perfect Pie (2002), romantic dramas like The Notebook (2004), as well as the psychological thriller Red Eye (2005). But she, too, has acted in her fair share of comedies, including Wedding Crashers (2005), The Hot Chick (2002), Mean Girls (2004), and Midnight in Paris (2011). Her Annie makes a good partner for Bateman’s Max, so much so that they seem very comfortable with these characters like they’ve played them all the time.

But this film only works if all of the cast is good and they are. Billy Magnussen does a good job playing the rather stupid Ryan Huddle. Kyle Chandler’s Brooks Davis is so on the money for the annoyingly more successful sibling that you feel for Max’s plight to always come up second best. Lamorne Morris and Kylie Bunbury play Kevin and Michelle Sterling, a couple that has been together since Middle School, except for a brief patch when they were broken up. It is that missing time that results in an ongoing fight between the two of them. Finally, Jesse Plemons makes neighbor Gary Kingsbury both creepy and endearing, though more creepy than anything else.

Jesse Plemons makes neighbor Gary Kingsbury both creepy and endearing.

While the film is at times laugh out loud funny, it is still an adult comedy. It didn’t earn its R rating from the MPAA without cause. There is language, sexual references, gun violence, blood, hand to hand violence, and even a horrific death. This is not something you should sit down with your underage children to watch.

That said, if you have a chance to watch Game Night, you should. I came into the film with some expectations but I’m happy to say that it went above and beyond those.