Despite some unevenness, Game Night proves to be an enjoyable date night film.
Game Night is from the people who made Horrible Bosses, which I thought kind of sucked, so I wasn’t too keen on checking this one out. Comedy films have a hard time actually being funny while maintaining an interesting enough plot for me. To my surprise, Game Night is an enjoyable romp.
We follow husband and wife team Max and Annie (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams) who are obsessed with winning games. We get a little bit of a backstory about how they met, and games seem to be a major part of their lives. We also learn that Max is jealous of his more successful older brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler), and Brooks is coming to town.
Of course, Brooks wants to show up Max, so he plans an epic game night where someone will be kidnapped and the other teams must solve riddles to rescue the captive. However, since Brooks is actually a criminal, he is really kidnapped and our idiot game players must work to rescue him.
The set-up might sound a bit dumb (it is), and it probably also sounds like it takes too long (it does), but once the movie actually gets going it is pretty funny. The film balances well between completely absurd situational humor, physical humor, and “oh no” humor.
McAdams and Bateman are the show stealers, but it takes a long time for things to get underway. Once they all realize they are dealing with real criminals the movie gets a lot better. The humor is more absurd, and the endless stream of new villains makes for some strange situations.
Aside from the slow start, the film isn’t exactly anything new. It reminded me more of an old National Lampoon film than any other recent comedy (and I mean good National Lampoon). I laughed at some of the more ridiculous moments, groaned at the awkward ones, and overall had a good time. I don’t review a lot of comedies because it is hard to talk about them without giving away a joke or some funny moment. I know a lot of people liked Horrible Bosses, and this one just works better. If you’re looking for a simple, but fun flick, this is one worth a shot. 6/10
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