Are you ready for GAME NIGHT?
It's a monthly ritual for three couples, led by Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams) who take the tradition very seriously. Winning is everything.
LaMorne Morris (New Girl) is hilarious as Kevin, constantly jealous of his wife Michelle (Kylie Bunbury). The monthly group is rounded out by Annie's brother Ryan (Billy Magnussen) who brings a different model to game night every month. We see a montage of the stunning young women, who have clearly not been chosen for the game play.
This month, Ryan decides to bring a 30ish English professor as his teammate, with an eye on winning. We win, because that woman is played by Sharon Horgan, loaded with throwaway lines for her young, dumb male teammate Ryan.
Enter Max and Annie's next door neighbor, newly divorced cop Gary, perfectly played by Jesse Plemons (Fargo, The Post) in a DARK, hilariously scene stealing role.
When Max's rich older brother Brooks (the perfectly cast Kyle Chandler) shows up, he announces that he's taking Game Night to a new level, with a staged kidnapping about to happen.
That kidnapping is hilariously staged and LOL funny. But when another set of kidnappers show up ten minutes later looking for Brooks, the couple dive head first into a real crime scene that's loaded with real life felonies faster than you can shout Bingo!
Bateman, McAdams and the whole cast are very funny people. Bateman always slays me with his deadpan delivery.
It's an R-rated, adult action comedy that spins wildly out of control.
It's nicely elevated by some clever visuals around the gaming theme, especially in the long camera shots that zoom into scenes that appear to be a game board but dissolve into real sets. It's an extra level of "cool" that adds to the fun.
With smart references to David Fincher's "The Game" and "Fight Club" in abundance, it plays like those films spun into the comedy genre.
It won't stick with you much longer than the average Monopoly game does when you put the board away, but we laughed a lot.
By the time Dexter himself, Michael C. Hall shows up as a bad guy, we were all in for the ride.
GAME NIGHT scores a solid B.
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