Game Night Plot Summary:
Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams) are two highly competitive game players. They host a weekly game night, but things are about to change as Max’s hotshot brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes to town. He’s arranged for a murder mystery game night where one of the guests will be “taken” and whomever can solve the mystery will win his classic car. However, things go sideways when Brooks is legitimately kidnapped by armed gunmen…or is it legitimate?
On paper, Game Night did not look promising.
The trailers were as vanilla as the offense in a pre-season football game. The writers and directors were the same team behind such films as Horrible Bosses 2, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and Vacation — none of which met great critical or box office success. And, the film’s release comes at a time when studios are pushing out films they don’t care about, or are giving their Oscar films a wide release.
Given all these factors, Game Night should’ve have absolute stunk, or at best, been a film made passable by Jason Bateman’s beloved charm, and charisma.
Instead, Game Night is a genuinely funny, clever, and surprisingly tense comedy. It has an incredibly smart plot that cleverly borrows what worked about the Michael Douglas film The Game (if you haven’t seen the film do so immediately), and is filled with extremely well-shot, and well-executed chase sequences. Oh, and one absolutely brilliant performance from Jesse Plemmons.
The main question the film asks is “what’s part of Brooks’ game night, and what isn’t?” This question keeps all the characters, and the audience on their toes throughout the film. The writers/directors commit 1000% to this premise, and their commitment to it really pays off. That might sound like a weird compliment, but had they decided to get cute with the script with too many twists and turns, or to completely throw logic out the window for the sake of a cheap joke, this movie would’ve derailed hard. You are literally left guessing about what’s happening up until the end of the film.
Game Night does not work if the chemistry of its cast is not as tight as the tension sewn throughout the film. Bateman, McAdams, Sarah Hogan (Catastrophe), Billy Magnussen (People vs. OJ Simpson), LaMorne Morris (New Girl), and Kylie Bunbury (Under the Dome) act as if they’ve been a comedy troupe for the last 10 years. There’s a naturalness to their chemistry, and it pays off big time in the big comedy moments of the film.
However, it’s Jesse Plemmons (Breaking Bad) who steals this entire film. He’s to transform socially awkward police officer Gary from a walking punchline into a character that’s at times wholly sympathetic, and absolutely terrifying. The creepiness of Gary only heightens the tension and paranoia of the film, but under the creep factor is a man who has his heartbroken, and is looking for a friend. Plemmons makes this character so much deeper and complex than it should’ve been.
Game Night is a diamond in the rough of the doldrums of winter. It’s a film that takes you by surprise with its depth of character, and plot. There are few weak spots, particularly the shoe horned in conflict between Bateman, and McAdams, but these are minor quibbles. But, in the end Game Night is a tremendously fun, rewatchable film.
Rating: 8 out of 10
