Movie Review: Game Night
By: Troy Emswiler
Rating: 7/10
Game Night is an action-packed black comedy directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein. Written by Mark Perez, it stars Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams. Notable supporting actors include Michael C. Hall, Jesse Plemons, and Kyle Chandler. Bateman and McAdams play Max and Annie, an extremely competitive husband and wife that host game nights with their friends. Max’s extremely successful brother, Brooks, played by Chandler, is in town to visit and joins them for a game night. He then decides to host the next one. He makes the game a murder mystery. Little do they know that they actually end up in the middle of a real murder mystery.
The first thing that I have to comment on is the cinematography-the surrounding shots of the neighborhood and city looked like a 3-D game board. The editing was pretty solid as well, with no quick cuts or shaky cam. Obviously not the most important part of the movie, but it is a nice additional touch.
Comedy-wise, I wasn’t sure what to expect going into it, but the movie kept me laughing essentially the whole time. There are three couples in the movie, each with their own side plot. Each couple had strong character chemistry, allowing them to play off each other very well.
Overall, the trailer and previews didn’t do the movie justice. The movie was much, much better than the previews and trailer showed it to be. It’s self-aware, and it plays the part extremely well. It’s a fun-filled movie that is definitely a good time and worth a full price ticket admission. The movie does unfortunately come off as cheesy as times because of its humor. Because the movie is a mystery, I don’t think it would hold value on repeat watches, but that’s ok. It’s not expected to.
In the end, Game Night is an enjoyable, fun-filled movie with funny characters and hilarious moments.
