Game Night is a mystery comedy directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein. The movie follows a couple, Max and Annie, played by Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, on one of the weekly game nights that they have with their friends.
However, this week’s game night is taken over by Max’s popular brother Brooks, played by Kyle Chandler. Brooks wants to go “all out” and show off for game night and plans a “murder mystery” game. He explains that the game will consist of actors coming and kidnapping one of them and then the rest of the group will have to help find them. This goes out the window when Brooks himself actually gets kidnapped. Will the group of friends realize that this is no longer a fun-filled game night or will someone get hurt in the process?
As with most comedy movies, I assumed that most of the funny parts were in the trailer but I was wrong because throughout the film I laughed multiple times. I was interested in the characters and their individual stories that tied into the main plot. The characters were well done and seemed like real people and I noticed throughout the film that I became interested in their separate side plots. My favorite character had to be either Kevin, portrayed by Lamorne Morris, or Gary, played by Jesse Plemons, since they had me laughing the most throughout the film.
The plot was not overdone and blown out of proportion like most comedies can be. It was pretty grounded in reality for a comedy kidnapping scenario. There was never a moment where I was like, “there’s no way” that took me out of the story. In many movies there are moments where characters do something outrageous and impossible just for the sake of humor, but Game Night does not go down that path.
The aspect of the movie that I found stunning is how it was shot. In some of the scenes, the camera work makes it look as if it is a board game. One transition scene has a panning shot of the protagonist’s house, and the cul-de-sac looks like it is made up of the plastic houses from Monopoly. I found myself multiple times throughout the movie just enjoying the cinematography.
I would have to give Game Night a 7.5/10. It had funny moments, excellent cinematography, interesting characters, and a plot that keeps viewers interested. Game Night has a run time of an hour and thirty-three minutes. After watching this movie, I want to start up a game night of my own.
