Game Night

Every so often a studio comedy sneaks in and overachieves, and I think Game Night is a prime example. It was released in 2018, so maybe you missed it between all the superhero noise that year. The premise sounds tired at first: an ultra-competitive couple and their friends gather for their regular game night, but this time the night spirals out of control after what should be a harmless murder mystery turns real and dangerous. It’s hardly the first movie about suburban adults facing wild hijinks, but the execution here is what makes it work.

The main thing that sets Game Night apart is its energy. Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein give the movie real snap without ever letting the silliness turn to chaos. The film is sharply paced and wastes almost zero time on unnecessary exposition. Not every joke lands, but the rhythm is spot-on, and whenever things seem like they might lag, something genuinely unexpected or clever comes in to pick it back up.

Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman lead the cast, and honestly, they both seem to be having a blast. Bateman, as always, plays his brand of exasperated and dryly witty everyman, but it works really well when he’s ping-ponging off McAdams, who feels surprisingly loose and fun here. A standout is Jesse Plemons as the painfully awkward and deeply unsettling neighbor, Gary, who manages to deliver laughs just by staring at someone too long or slowly cradling his white dog.

Visually, the movie has way more style than it needs for a studio comedy. There are these cool tilt-shift shots that make the whole city look like a game board, a little playful nudge to the theme without turning gimmicky. The filmmakers double down on action in a few sequences, and you can tell they actually cared. The infamous egg chase with the Fabergé egg is a silly highlight, blending slapstick and legitimate tension, and the whole thing just looks crisp. It’s not going to win Oscars for cinematography, but it’s way above average for this type of movie.

One thing I appreciated was how the script lets its characters be clever. It doesn’t treat them like total idiots just because they’re in a farce. Sure, they’re out of their depth, but they usually make reasonable choices for people in over their heads. The dialogue is tight, and the running jokes (“You’re not Jason Bateman!” or the shadowy Bulgarian villain) never quite go stale.

Where Game Night trips a little is in its emotional beats. The movie nods toward some deeper stuff about marriage pressure and sibling rivalry, but it never fully explores them. Sometimes you want the comedy to pause so the characters can actually talk, but every time it threatens to get real, there’s another twist or gag. That works for keeping it breezy, but I did wish for a little more actual pathos behind all the fast one-liners.

It’s also a movie that isn’t quite as clever as it thinks in its third act. There are maybe one or two twists too many, and you start to feel the writers congratulating themselves a little. I didn’t hate it, but it does undercut some of the suspense when the film keeps pulling one more “gotcha!” on the audience. By the end, you’re kind of along for the ride, whether or not it totally makes sense.

Still, Game Night is sharp, fast, and way more fun than it had any right to be. If you go in hoping for tight plotting and deeper meaning, you’ll leave mildly annoyed. If you want to watch good actors have a blast, throw some popcorn at the screen, and see something that actually looks like it was filmed with purpose, it’s a clear standout in the adult ensemble comedy genre.