Game Night

Game Night is a dark comedy by the directors behind Horrible Bosses. The plot focuses on a suburban game night gone awry managing to be both entertaining and engaging. Subplots of which this film has quite a few are all wrapped up to a satisfying degree by the end. My main critique of the plot is that it has a few too many twists, trying to make it look more clever than it actually is. Rachel McAdams character of Annie is very funny and easily the most charming of the cast. What’s more is that through McAdams performance, you really buy the competitiveness of her character. Morris’ character of Kevin is easily the funniest for me personally. His constant state of worry around which celebrity his wife slept with, (which is a recurring gag), never stops being funny. Another standout from the cast is Kyle Chandler as Brooks. Chandler plays the cool older brother with such ease it’s as though he isn’t acting at all. Furthermore, the dramatic scenes with his character feel believable, with his character having the best arc. Bateman is the weak link of the cast because in near every scene he is in with McAdams she easily out stages him. What’s more, he was the main member of the cast who’s jokes didn’t work and fell flat. Bateman’s character did benefit from strong motivations, with him trying to become more like his impressive older brother (Chandler). The romance between Billy Magnussen character of Ryan and Sharon Horgan’s Sarah works surprisingly well. With the pair being the highlight of the film. The supporting cast outside the main gang is mainly wasted. The only exception is Gary, played by Jesse Plemons. Plemons is the scene stealer of this film and is fantastically awkward in every scene he is in. The action scenes in the film are largely by the numbers, except for one fantastic scene involving a Faberge egg. In terms of the score, there are two excellent usages of Queen songs that I feel really capture the essence of the film.
Overall I would highly recommend this film, even if Jason Bateman isn’t in top form. It is still a very enjoyable ride.
3.5/5
Reviewed by Luke.