GAME NIGHT (2018) ***

I’ve heard a lot of good things about Game Night recently, and as an avid boardgame fanatic, I figured I would roll the dice and check it out for myself.  It also helped that I was a big fan of directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s previous flick, Vacation.  While it’s not quite on the level of that classic, it’s still a lot of fun.  

Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams star as a couple who live for game night with their friends.  Bateman’s ultra-successful big brother (Kyle Chandler) crashes the festivities and tries to one-up his sibling’s quaint evening of fun by staging an elaborate murder-mystery dinner party-style game.  The premise is that one of the guests will be “abducted” and the rest of the party has to find them.  Naturally, Bateman’s brother gets kidnapped for real, which leads to several complications.  

Game Night is sort of like a reworking of The Man Who Knew Too Little as our heroes think they are taking part in an elaborate game, but they are actually in danger every step of the way.  Unlike that flick, the main characters here catch on to that the scenario is all too real about halfway in, which kind of takes some of the fun out of it.  There are also one or two totally unnecessary plot twists in the final reel, although nothing that threatens to derail the film’s momentum.  Despite those quibbles, Daley and Goldstein deliver plenty of memorable moments and funny sequences (like when McAdams is forced to perform an impromptu back-alley surgery on Bateman’s bullet wound) to make it worthwhile.  

It helps that the cast is strong all the way around.  Bateman is still playing yet another variation on his usual shtick, but he is nevertheless very funny.  His chemistry with McAdams is winning too, and if there isn’t a sequel in the cards (heh), then I hope they are at least paired together again real soon.  I also liked Jeffrey Wright’s intense bit as the hardboiled “detective” in the game as well as the cameo by the “big bad” in the finale.  It’s Jesse Plemons though who steals scene after scene as Bateman’s nosy cop neighbor.