Comedy films are a bit hit & miss with me as I tend not to like American humour as it tends to boil down to who can shout the loudest or make the most fart jokes; considering most comedy films are American that often means I don’t bother with them at all because I’m probably not going to like them. Game Night was one of those films that I saw was on at the cinemas I visit regularly but I just never bothered to go watch because it was a comedy. That was until recently when a friend and I swapped lists of films we would recommend to each other and Game Night was on it, so I picked up a DVD copy for under £1 and gave it a go seeing as I had very little to lose from not liking it at that point. Turns out I probably should have given it the time of day at the cinema because Game Night is actually pretty great.
Husband & Wife, Max & Annie, are compulsive competitive gamers. They host weekly game nights for their friends where they all come over and play board games, card games, video games…any kind of game. They’re trying to conceive but failing due to Max’s high stress levels affecting his sperm, this is likely a result of his brother Brooks being in town for a while. Brooks & Max have always had sibling rivalries but Brooks is generally regarded as the smarter, better looking brother who has had a more successful career and is richer. Even Max’s friends love spending time with Brooks which rubs Max the wrong way. When Brooks offers to host game night for a week though, Max & Annie take him up on the opportunity in the hope that they will be able to win it and prove to Max that he is better than Brooks at something. Brooks has hired a murder mystery company to kidnap one of the guests and the rest will have to follow the clues to find them. But when Brooks is kidnapped and the others realise it was not by the actors he hired, the game suddenly becomes a matter of life and death as they try to track down Brooks and rescue him.
Husband & Wife, Max & Annie, are compulsive competitive gamers. They host weekly game nights for their friends where they all come over and play board games, card games, video games…any kind of game. They’re trying to conceive but failing due to Max’s high stress levels affecting his sperm, this is likely a result of his brother Brooks being in town for a while. Brooks & Max have always had sibling rivalries but Brooks is generally regarded as the smarter, better looking brother who has had a more successful career and is richer. Even Max’s friends love spending time with Brooks which rubs Max the wrong way. When Brooks offers to host game night for a week though, Max & Annie take him up on the opportunity in the hope that they will be able to win it and prove to Max that he is better than Brooks at something. Brooks has hired a murder mystery company to kidnap one of the guests and the rest will have to follow the clues to find them. But when Brooks is kidnapped and the others realise it was not by the actors he hired, the game suddenly becomes a matter of life and death as they try to track down Brooks and rescue him.
It's a pretty original premise that it pulls off really well. It’s also stuffed with plot twists and red herrings to constantly keep you off your guard and never aware of what will happen next. Jason Bateman & Rachel McAdams are great as Max & Annie with both giving great, hilarious performances. In fact, all of the cast do really well in it but Bateman & McAdams are definitely the stars of the show. Honourable mention goes to Jesse Plemons as Gary, Max & Annie’s neighbour, who is fantastically deadpan his entre performance and makes some great awkwardly funny situations.
The camera work on Game Night is brilliant too. It has some really memorable scenes due to how the camera moves around the environment. It almost feels like you’re watching a board game or video game at times thanks to the directorial choices with the camera and editing.
Overall, I think Game Night is a great comedy/thriller and would recommend it to anyone. There’s a lot of references for film & board game fans which I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of too. If there’s anything I learned from watching this is maybe I should give more comedies a chance, because this and 2019’s Booksmart both pleasantly surprised me.
The camera work on Game Night is brilliant too. It has some really memorable scenes due to how the camera moves around the environment. It almost feels like you’re watching a board game or video game at times thanks to the directorial choices with the camera and editing.
Overall, I think Game Night is a great comedy/thriller and would recommend it to anyone. There’s a lot of references for film & board game fans which I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of too. If there’s anything I learned from watching this is maybe I should give more comedies a chance, because this and 2019’s Booksmart both pleasantly surprised me.