‘Game Night’ won’t scare you, but it will leave you in tears
You won’t know what’s real or what’s fake — but you will know that you’re laughing out loud
★★★★✩
Game Night
Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein
Screenplay by Mark Perez
Starring Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman
Rated R, Now Playing
From directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein comes Game Night, a movie in which a couple’s weekly game night turns into a real murder mystery. But don’t let the subject matter fool you — Game Night is by no means a horror film. Even I, a self-proclaimed wuss, was able to laugh through the bloodiest of it. If you are looking for real, hairy gore, look elsewhere. If, however, you are looking for a laugh-out-loud comedy and an immersing movie to take your mind off things, you will love this wildly implausible rollercoaster ride through a game night gone wrong.
While neither the acting nor the storyline, though captivating, were particularly special, the film was filled with back-to back side-splitting scenes and a spread of captivating and over the top characters. Take, for example, the lonely and seemingly-psychotic neighborhood police officer and his ex-wife’s little white terrier, who in one hilarious scene is accidentally covered in the blood from a botched bullet-removal performed after Jason Bateman’s character is accidentally shot in the arm by his wife. If dogs aren’t your cup of tea, try the classic scene in which an invaluable egg is tossed from room to room like a football in a mad dash as the game night attendees attempt to steal it from the dinner party of an extremely dangerous black market criminal. Yes, it might sound gimmicky, but somehow it just works.
From the thematic stop-motion transitions that felt almost like a real thriller to the seemingly never-ending plot twists and turns, you won’t be able to turn away. Yes, it’s campy and over the top, but also a bucketful of fun. If you can’t handle absurdity — don’t go; otherwise, you will have a great time!