Game Night – Review
At A Glance
There’ll be no poker faces as Game Night has the monopoly on crime, caper comedies!
By Claire Bueno
Annie (Rachel McAdams) and Max (Jason Bateman) are soul mates, united by their love of games, quizzes and their equally competitive natures.
The one area of their lives where they are not winning though is in their inability to conceive a child. A problem attributed to stress. The root of the stress? Max’s older brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler).Since childhood Max has been under the shadow of his cool, charismatic, handsome, successful brother, and Brooks is back in town to disrupt the harmony.Annie and Max run game nights, where their close friends congregate to enjoy beer, nibbles and of course play some games.
One weekend for a change, Brooks offers to host the night and promises to make game night bigger and better than ever before. It’s time to up the ante, as Brooks has enrolled actors. His guests are going to collect clues and take part in a murder mystery; the grand prize a Corvette Stingray.
The couples include Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and his wife Michelle (Kylie Bunbury); Ryan (Billy Magnussen) and his latest (though not officially a date) Sarah (Sharon Horgan); and not forgetting the reticent Annie and Max.
The doorbell rings as an FBI agent enters and provides the couples with a case file.
Within minutes two masked men burst in the house and kidnap Brooks.
The competition is on! Or is it???!!!!
This film is no charade it is genuinely funny, and works as a gripping thriller.
The supporting actors are not just supporting, they have their own story line that explores their relationships and how their relationships evolve, which gives us all a rooting interest as an audience.
This comedy thriller was hilarious, it didn’t feel ‘acted’ or played for laughs, it felt much more naturalistic.
I must not forget a stirring performance by Jesse Plemons playing the socially awkward next door neighbour Gary, he is a real odd ball, but Plemons plays it with real sympathy. He gives us all a lesson in how we can’t judge a book by its cover.
The evolvement of the script and the trajectory of the story doesn’t miss a beat.
“This will be a game night to remember”, says Brooks and it really is.
