Warner Bros. Pictures
By the look of the calendar on the wall, it’s time for yet another comedy with Jason Bateman as a put-upon schlub. It’s certainly a niche that he’s parlayed into a successful career on the big screen, while he actually goes in quite a different direction on the small screen in Netflix’s Ozark. But this is standard, comedy mode Bateman on display in Game Night … and I didn’t hate it.
The story centers on Bateman’s Max and his wife Annie (Rachel McAdams) the perennial hosts of a game night with their friends, the married Kevin (Lamorne Morris) & Michelle (Kylie Bunbury) and Ryan (Billy Magnussen) and his ever-changing date for the evening, this time Sarah (Sharon Horgan) who is actually just along for the fun and not a date (slightly to Ryan’s surprise later in the film). But there is the issue of Officer Gary (Jesse Plemons), the next door neighbor who isn’t invited to game night anymore since his wife Debbie left him. Gary is not too subtle about his wishes to be invited, which are both creepy and hilarious. And then there’s Max’s brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler), the more successful — and obnoxious — of the two. Max seems to have issues of inferiority compared to Brooks (demonstrated by an embarrassing story told at a game night) and things escalate when Brooks decides he wants everyone to come to his house for game night.
But, ever one to top his brother, Brooks has informed everyone that he has hired a company that stages very specific situations and at some point during the evening, someone will be kidnapped and the rest will be given a series of clues to find the victim. The winner will receive Brooks’ brand new, vintage, cherry red Stingray … a car that Max has always wanted. An ‘FBI agent’ with dossiers and the kidnappers arrive as scheduled and Brooks puts up a very realistic fight, much to his guests enjoyment. But after Brooks is taken and the ‘agent’ continues to lie motionless on the floor, it all becomes too real as the actual hired kidnappers arrive. Then it becomes a race against time as Brooks’ real life is exposed and it comes down to Max to save his life.
If you’re planning to see Game Night, for the love of Pete, avoid the trailer at all costs. As so often happens with comedies, ALL the good stuff is in the trailer and you’re left watching all the filler in between. Most of the funniest stuff is indeed in the Game Night trailer, but there are some late in the game twists that do come as a bit of a surprise (particularly with one actor who does not, that I can remember, appear in the trailer which made a large part of the preview audience gasp … and the woman in front of me was so stunned she yelled out his famous TV character name). So since I had seen the trailer, I only chuckled throughout the film with one or two good laughs. Your mileage may vary.
What helps sell the film is the cast. If you like every other comedy Jason Bateman has been in, you’ll like him in this one. I liked the chemistry between him and Rachel McAdams, although sometimes she did appear to just be acting. Lamorne Morris and Kylie Bunbury were also good together, especially in their subplot about the celebrity she slept with at one point when they had briefly broken up. The guessing game and the reveal are quite entertaining. Jesse Plemons is appropriately disturbing, but he’s also a sympathetic character as well. It takes some talent to pull that off. Sharon Horgan is also quite good as Ryan’s ‘date’ and the exasperation she expresses at him is funny. The standout however is Billy Magnussen as Ryan. He is such an unaware dope who stumbles into being a hero (for a hot second) and has a moment of real pathos when Sarah realizes he thinks they’re on a real date when that’s the furthest thing from her mind. I’ve seen Magnussen in smaller roles here and there (like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Into the Woods, Bridge of Spies and as Kato Kaelin in American Crime Story), so it’s good to see him get a really substantial role in a major motion picture (and he’ll really hit the big time with Disney’s live action Aladdin as Prince Anders).
Game Night is ably directed by John Francis Daley (who makes his usual cameo) and Jonathan Goldstein, keeping the action moving. Aside from Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, there aren’t many comedies on the big screen at the moment so Game Night should fill a void. It may not be the greatest comedy ever made, but it has enough laughs, good performances and decent plot twists to keep you entertained. And be sure to stay to the end of the credits to find out what really happened with Gary’s wife Debbie.
Game Night has a run time of 1 hour 40 minutes and is rated R for language, sexual references and some violence.
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