Game Night review: Undeniable side-splitting comedy, thrice-filtered through an outlandish, absurdist lens.
Game Night review by Matthew Ceo.
Game Night review
With the likes of Arrested Development‘s Jason Bateman and Spotlight‘s own Oscar-nominated Rachel McAdams leading the charge, Game Night features a veritable who’s who of comedic talent and establishes itself as a film far funnier than it has any right to be. The film follows an extremely competitive couple – Max and Annie – and their lifelong friends as they distract themselves from life’s problems with challenging bouts of checkers, serious games of scrabble, and meaningful charade tournaments when one thing reveals itself to be true: game night is sacred. So when Max’s charismatic brother, Brooks – played by Manchester By The Sea‘s Kyle Chandler – comes to town and decidedly enters the fray, board games go out the window, and things get kicked up a notch. Wanting to outshine his brother, Brooks raises the stakes with a faux murder-mystery party, and that’s when it all hits the fan.
As chaos takes the wheel, it quickly becomes clear that not everyone is who they say they are. Staging a kidnapping for his brother and his friends, Brooks accidentally gets tangled within a web of lies, and soon, Max, Annie and co. are all trying to bag that grand prize, a slick Corvette Stingray – and without knowing it, Brooks’ life. On the outside, this would usually be one of the most generic of comedic synopses, but at its core, Game Night takes far more serious elements within the narrative which ultimately deliver in some very unexpected ways – the potential infidelity of married couple Kevin (Lamorne Morris) and Michelle (Kylie Bunbury), Max and Annie’s troubles with conception, Max’s relationship with Brooks, and even the concerning, deadpan delivery of Jesse Plemons’ character Gary and his recent divorce hits home with significant impetus.
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Written by Mark Perez and directed by both John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein—who cowrote Horrible Bosses and helmed 2015’s Vacation, Game Night does something we haven’t seen in a while. Intentionally straying from cheap one-liners that lack contextual relevance, or forcing references that will quickly become dated, Game Night is smarter than the genre it’s so comfortably nestled into. Instead, it’s presented more as a comedic-thriller reminiscent of Horrible Bosses or Date Night, with such a gorgeous soundtrack from Cliff Martinez which somehow manages to be both eerie and chic. To top it all off, running through its veins is the absurdist lifeblood of something uncannily like The Game, forcing unwitting participants into a bittersweet comedy of errors that just can’t help but make you laugh time and time again.
Game Night review
Skillfully shot with an apt opening montage of the unifying power of competitive gaming, we’re not only quick to believe in the relationship between Max and Annie but also the film’s excellent supporting cast. American Crime Story‘s Billy Magnussen, New Girl‘s Lamorne Morris, Under The Dome‘s Kylie Bunbury, and Fargo‘s Jesse Plemons all undeniably shine brightest next to their co-stars as they effectively portray a group of friends with years of believable emotional investment. Laden with faux federal agents, fight clubs, and a plethora of slapstick comedy stacked mile high on some expertly handled twists and turns, Game Night promises to be one of the most outlandishly hilarious comedies of the year.
Game Night review by Matthew Ceo, February 2018.
Game Night is released in UK cinemas on Friday 2nd March, 2018.
