Game Night (2018) Review

It beats playing Risk.

(Seriously, Risk sucks).



Hyper competitive Max (Jason Bateman) and his equally competitive wife, Annie (Rachel McAdams) love having game night with their friends.  When Max's more successful brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes to town, he invites the whole group over for a murder mystery night in which Brooks gets kidnapped.  But the lines between the game and reality are quickly blurred as the murder mystery game comes closer and closer to becoming an actual murder mystery.


What Works:

Game Night is a hysterical movie.  The cast is firing on all cylinders and there are some really great and well written jokes.  But the highlight of the cast is Jesse Plemons who plays Max and Annie's socially awkward neighbor, who loves game night, but nobody else wants him to come.  Plemons gives a fantastic performance and he steals the show every time he is on screen.

Most studio comedies like Game Night don't do too much creatively when it comes to thinks like cinematography.  Game Night is the exception.  It has some really beautiful shots and creative camera movements during action and tense scenes.  Best of all are some aerial shots that make the world below look like a game board.  There may have been miniatures involved, I'm not sure, but they look fantastic.  It's really fun to see a film like this one takes some artistic chances.

What Sucks:

As with most comedies, not all the jokes land.  I'm also not a huge fan of the way Game Night wraps up the relationship conflicts between Max and Annie.  I'm sure most people will be fine with it, but it just wasn't to my liking.

My main problem with this movie involves the side stories of Max and Annie's game night friends.  They disappear from the 3rd act and the stories are never addressed again.  It just feels like some lose ends the filmmakers forgot to tie up.  


Verdict:

Game Night is a very funny film that takes a solid premise and executes on it very well.  There a re lots of laughs and creativity to be had, and Jesse Plemons is incredible.  I just wish the ending could have been a little tighter, but Game Night definitely has got it going on.


 8/10: Really Good   




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