Game Night (2018)
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Game Night Movie Review
Game Night is a 2018 comedy film directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams. It is a pretty solid film.
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“Never exclude me again“
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I liked the film’s plot to an extent. The premise is terrific and it was particularly effective in mixing “crime” and comedy elements. However, when it all turned out to have been a twist after all and then that the policeman was behind it all, I didn’t like that at all. It was one twist too many and it became too needlessly complicated and even nonsensical and highly unrealistic.
But the film is still incredibly entertaining and it just flies by how fun it is. The humor is also pretty good and relying more on facial expressions, marital problems and sexual tension instead of gross-out jokes which worked and led to a more serious modern comedy. I laughed a couple of times for sure. Still though, for a comedy, I did not laugh all too much as the film is rarely hilarious. It is so much fun, don’t get me wrong, but hardly truly funny.
Jason Bateman plays his usual character and he’s great at it. Rachel McAdams has rarely been this fun, this sexy and this charming. Such a great character and the interactions between the two are infectiously good. Kyle Chandler once again plays a brother and he’s become so good at that, but he needs to start playing some different roles for a change.
Billy Magnusen is typecast as sexualized, stupid man and he’s very good at that. Sharon Horgan is also pretty solid. Lamorne Morris and Kylie Bunbury are so funny as their cheating subplot was one of the highlights of the film. The Denzel Washington jokes are so good. And of course Jesse Plemons is so much fun and I loved how he eventually reinstated himself into the group.
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Game Night is very well shot, though forgettably scored. The direction is solid and the pacing is mostly good. I just wish that the plot was stronger as well as the humor. The action was terrific though with the particular standout being that American football inspired sequence which was brilliantly executed.
Game Night is a flawed, but solid comedy which is funny, but rarely truly hilarious. It has way too many twists in it, but the plot remains very strong and interesting. The highlights are its memorable characters and terrific performances throughout with the standouts being Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams who are an infectiously dynamic and fun spousal duo.
