Honestly, I had no idea Game Night was going to be a thing outside of a couple ads on social media and a trailer during a different movie I saw recently. I wouldn't be surprised if most of you haven't heard of it, as it seems to be one of those sleeper films. Frankly, I'm surprised I didn't hear more about it, due to my generally very updated upcoming-movie knowledge and its big-name cast members. And, since we're being completely honest, I only saw this as a result of an impulse decision last weekend. Still, that said, Game Night is pretty dang fun. I'm not saying it's particularly special, but enjoyable nonetheless.
To start, I'll note that Game Night is primarily a comedy (more on that later), but still manages to have some well-put-together action scenes. Sure, they're not frequent or special, but my experience with comedies has left me with the mentality of any fight scene being strictly slapstick or just dumb and excessively edited. Sure, there's an element to that in Game Night, but a couple car chases and fist fights could've gone a lot worse. Plus, the physical comedy peppered throughout those scenes were there, but the timing was more intelligent than you'd expect.
Furthermore, the cast is perfect. I've stated before that a popular cast can churn a boatload of money out of a terrible film (anyone remember The Cash-Grab Cast Corollary?), but that isn't the case here. There were several big names that I enjoyed seeing, and there was a surprising amount of unrecognized actors that did well. Starting with the former, we see actors like Jason Bateman, Kyle Chandler, Rachel McAdams, and--get this--Michael C. Hall, of all people! Don't recognize him? No? Did anybody watch Dexter? If not, watch it and get back to me. It's on Netflix and everything. I mean, his part is small and could've been played by anyone, but I still went full fanboy at the sight of him (despite the atrocious ending to Dexter). Anyway, Jason Bateman is quite funny, as always. I've enjoyed him much more the more I see him, actually. If you like him, be sure to check out Arrested Development, The Change-Up, Horrible Bosses, Horrible Bosses 2, Identity Thief, and apparently Ozark on Netflix has good reviews. But you can avoid Hancock, Central Intelligence, Bad Words, and The Switch. None of them are funny, or even good.
Moving on, I was pleasantly surprised at how funny Rachel McAdams is in Game Night. I thought she was great in Southpaw (despite her--um--small role) and, yes, even The Notebook. I didn't particularly care for the Sherlock Holmes movies, The Hot Chick, or The Vow, but she's still a very talented actress. You probably forgot she's in Mean Girls, didn't you? Anyway, I digress. As far as Game Night goes, she was quite funny and saved scenes and situations that felt like they were taking an odd turn. Aside from being way too hot to be with someone like Jason Bateman, their chemistry was much better than I expected it would be. Come to think of it, I'm pretty sure it's part of Jason Bateman's contract to be cast with women much more attractive than him. I mean, Lesie Mann, Olivia Wilde, Jennifer Aniston, Charlize Theron....yeah.
Most importantly, though, Game Night is dang funny. I went into it thinking it'd be decent at best, but it really was quite witty and a lot of fun. I'm not saying if you go in with low expectations it will be funny, either; going in expecting it to be good will in no way hinder your experience. The comedy actually has range to it; delivering physical, dry, and witty gags on multiple occasions. Sure, some jokes here and there are forced, but show me a comedy that lands every joke and I'll kiss your ring.
But wait! Yes, I do have a rant section. I liked Game Night because it was smarter and more intricate than I expected; yet it tended to take it a bit to far in some regards. The plot almost felt like it was a premise for an episode of a sitcom; which wouldn't necessarily be a problem, but I could easily imagine the producers scrambling at the concept of the ending. Yes, it did end unexpectedly fun way, but it tried so hard to not be predictable that it became dangerously close to crossing the border of unexpected (but fun) and blatantly absurd. Some may consider the plot in its entirety to be a bit of a mess--which at times, it is--but it's not nearly as ridiculous as most movies are nowadays. It didn't jump the shark, but it's almost like it tried to.
Regardless, if you walk into Game Night expecting a fun experience that is also clever, the more ridiculous moments won't bee too bothersome.
I'll admit that I'm at a bit of a quandary when it comes to this rating. I can't objectively say that it was truly fantastic, but darn it, I really did enjoy it. For that I'll give it a (somewhat generous) rating of 63%, deeming it just good enough to be
Theater Worthy
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