Game Night

So in another chapter in my recent redbox escapades, I decided it would be a good idea to delve into a comedy that came out this year instead of the drama movies I've been renting recently. Game Night was on the top of that list and was a film that I have been interested in seeing since the first time I saw the trailer. I have friends that I like to go and do game nights with so the premise was familiar and fun for me. On top of that, I heard pretty good things about the movie when it came out so I thought I'd check it out for myself.

Game Night follows the story of Max and Annie (played by Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams). They are a married couple that loves playing board games with their friends and they get very competitive. In this particular episode of their lives, Max's brother Brooks (played by Kyle Chandler) is in town. Brooks invites Max, Annie, and the rest of their game night friends to his expensive house and poses to them the most immersive game night of their lives. It involves someone being kidnapped and the other players need to investigate the disappearance and figure out who took them. But when Brooks is actually taken by criminals, the movie plays with the audience making them wonder what is the game and what isn't.

At least it tries to.

Listen, the movie isn't perfect. But it is a lot of fun.

The movie mainly follows Max and Annie as they, and everyone else, believes that it's a game, and then realize that it's not, and they're just regular people caught up in criminal activity with gun play, car chases, and other twists and turns.

The other friends have their own little side stories which I'll talk about, but it's mainly about Max and Annie, especially how they're thinking about having a kid and struggling to do so.

There are a lot of really funny moments but then there are some moments that really aren't that funny so it's a little bit of a mixed bag at times. I had a lot of moments where I was laughing really hard, and other moments where I was rolling my eyes and telling the movie to keep it moving. There are some jokes that really stick and some that don't as much. There are times where this movie feels like a generic R-Rated comedy and then there are times where it doesn't and it feels pretty unique. Overall, it's probably one of the better made generic R-Rated comedies, but it still feels pretty generic at times.

A great example is Jesse Plemmon's (or Budget Matt Damon) character.

Now don't get me wrong, I really like Jesse Plemmons. I've pretty much liked every movie or TV show he's appeared in. I think he's a really good actor. But this role really didn't work for him. His whole gag is that he's this humorless dude who wants to be apart of their game night but they think he's weird (which he is). But the thing is, this could have been a one off gag, but they just keep it going with him and they bank A LOT on this character. A lot more than I expected when I first saw him. It's one of the examples of how this movie didn't stick its landings all the time. Oddly enough after saying that he's budget Matt Damon, I think his character would have been a lot funnier had it been Matt Damon... I don't know, maybe not...

Another example is in the other friends. The movie is mainly about Max and Annie, but every once in a while the movie takes a detour to follow the friends they do these game nights with. There are moments of their side stories that are funny but for the most part they really go no where. Lamorne Morris plays a guy who figures out his wife slept with a celebrity and he spends the entire evening wondering who this celebrity is. And it really fizzles out in the end.

Billy Magnusson plays their really stupid friend who brings a woman from work who is a lot smarter than him. In both situations where are a couple of moments or jokes that land but for the most part I was just hoping they'd get back to Bateman and McAdams because they really hold the movie down performance-wise.

These two as well as Kyle Chandler really hold the movie down well. I think their relationship is fun and they have some witty banter throughout the film that I thought was pretty funny.

I don't know if I totally buy them being married. Maybe it's the age difference as Bateman is ten years older than McAdams. But hey at least, it's not as weird as Steve Carrell and Anne Hathaway from Get Smart. It works fine in a little bit better than mediocre generic Rated R comedy, but for some reason I feel like their dynamic would have worked better if they had been siblings instead of a couple.

While some of the B storylines aren't as strong, I do think this movie has a pretty solid cast. You've got Bateman, McAdams, Morris, Magnusson, Chandler, Plemmons, but then you have a couple of cameos that I won't spoil, but it was a lot of fun seeing some of these cameos.

The other thing that puts this movie over the line of generic is the cinematography surprisingly enough. I've said ti before that I don't really have much experience with cinematography and I can't really say what's good and what's not, but I've watched enough movies to know when something is unique when I see it. There were some pretty good shots throughout the film and they were a lot better than some generic comedy. Does it make it a great film? No, but it does make it better than okay.

I had a lot of fun with Game Night. I laughed pretty hard at some funny moments, rolled my eyes at some not as funny moments, but overall it was a good time. I think it was worth a rental, but more likely I'd wait until its on some kind of streaming service and just watch it for free. For sure check it out, but you don't really need to spend a lot of money to watch it.

But what did you think? Did you like Game Night? Do you have a Game Night with your friends? What games do you usually play? Comment and Discuss below! You can also send me your thoughts and requests for future movies I should review on Twitter @MovieSymposium. If you follow me on Twitter, you can get updates on future movie news and reviews coming out of this blog.

Thanks for reading!