Review: Game Night

Game Night (2018) - John Francis Daly and Jonathon Goldstein

       High concept comedies are tough. Hell, regular comedies are tough.For a comedy to really work, follow with me, you don't need prat falls and fart jokes (not that I don't enjoy people getting injured and flatulence, because trust me, I do), you need characters you actually like, who are actually understandable, who you have an investment in, falling down and shitting their pants. Otherwise it's just bland and lazy. "Farts are funny, right? Well here's a THOUSAND OF THEM." Not so, Mr. and Ms. Movie people! I want there to be relatable stakes when someone farts or falls down. I know I sound crazy, but follow along here. The best comedies are based in character, regardless of plot (think Ghostbusters, or Superbad, or Mean Girls). High concept comedies are even tougher, because you have to funnel down all that character development and growth into one main, idea: One simple "concept" that drives the whole movie that is USUALLY outside the realm of reality (think Liar, Liar or Groundhog Day). A lot of normal comedies end up being terrible because they care about the shitty jokes than actual characters, and a lot of high concept movies end up being terrible because they lean too heavily into the one crazy conceit instead of actual characters. Game Night, however, smartly avoids failing on both levels, and actually creates an enjoyable, funny movie that also basically succeeds in its main general conceit as well. Game Night, honestly, surprised the hell out of me, and I quite liked it!

       So the plot, which is quite easily explainable in a short amount of words (because high concept!) is that married couple Max and Annie (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams) are married and looove game night. Their friends all love game night, comprised of Ryan, Kevin, and Michelle (Billy Magnnussen, Lamorne Moriss, and Kylie Bunbury) and whoever Ryan happens to be dating this week (this week it's his less-Instagrammy-than normal coworker, the fantastic Sharon Horgan). Things go awry when Max's brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes into town and, as always, upstages his younger brother with the promise of a more exciting, thrilling game night, complete with a kidnapping mystery. But then, because of Brooks' secret criminal life, he really is kidnapped! Cue insanity! Cue hilarity!

       It would be easy for a movie with this plot to become very tiresome very quickly, but a large reason it doesn't is because the entire cast is funny and they're game. They definitely commit, and even the less sketched out characters (namely the middle school sweethearts arguing about a short lapse in their relationship, Kevin and Michelle), are still charming enough to watch, even if their story-line is pretty thin. Rachel McAdams and Jason Bateman are pretty great as the main couple of the movie. Their relationship is sweet but believable, and they clearly support each other but aren't perfect. Yes, of course, he's ten years older than her in real life and sure that bothers me a little if I stop to think about it for too long, but they work and they play off each other well. The whole cast does. Everyone is funny, even if they end up a bit inconsequential.

       So yes, the comedy movie is funny. That is most of the battle, but if you're going to go high concept, you have to commit to the concept as well. And for this movie, the directors don't make it easy on themselves. Basically, the entire plot of the movie plays out like it's a mystery thriller, complete with David Fincher-esque title cards (that also cleverly look like game pieces, furthering the motif of the movie) and a Trent Reznor like score that actually make for convincing thrills. Usually when comedies blend genres, especially when it comes to action-comedies, which this movie essentially is, no matter how good the comedy is the action usually feels pretty shoe-horned, mostly because that's the world the filmmakers created and they have to stick to it (I love 21 Jump street, more than Game Night, even, but the action scenes of that movie don't amount to much for me). Game Night doesn't quite feel that way, partially because of the flow of information the characters get, partially because the cast is very funny, and partially because the action/thrilling set pieces are done really well.

       There's a particular scene where the entire group has to play hot potato with a fabrigee across an entire mansion that Daly and Goldstein created into one long shot. It twists and turns and keeps the audience on bated breath. It was fun, exciting, worked comedy into the actions, but also added up because of what we'd already learned from each character. It was a really awesome scene that had a technical proficiency most comedies don't really reach for.
       For me, the two standouts in the movie were the Magnussen/Horgan coupling, and Jesse Plemons. Magnussen (who is fantastic in everything I've seen him in, especially Ingrid Goes West) plays stupid without going annoying or too broad. And Sharon Horgan (Pulling, swoon, Catastrophe, SWOON), is reliably fantastic. He's young and gorgeous and she's slightly older (and gorgeous), and even though there's very little screentime dedicated to it, his asking her to the game night even though he wasn't initially attracted to her is endearing and leads to some nice character moments between the two of them. And ugh, Jesse Plemons. He's killing it you, guys. Between Fargo season 2, Black Mirror, and Bridge of Spies, he's one of Hollywood's best character actors today. He plays Gary, the creepy as fuck cop who was outed from game night after he got divorced from his still very beloved wife. Every scene with him is hilarious, creepy, and so slowly paced I bet the movie gained five minutes screen-time from his line reads alone.

       Yes, a few characters definitely get sidelined. Yes, the plot gets slightly too twisty-turny towards the end, but the movie has a strong basis of good character writing and just general good writing to keep its momentum throughout. It's also a very 2018 kind of movie. It feel fresh and relevant without pandering, and it's very referential without being annoying ("Well that's some real cute full-circle bullshit," a character explains during the climax). It's a smart, funny movie that knows it needs to be a smart, funny movie. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I was going to. However, some of that might be because of how often I saw the goddamn trailer (at least 20 times). This Moviepass, man, it's a blessing and a curse.

Score: Pass Go. Collect 200$. Do Not Go to Jail (GET IT? IT'S A GAME REFERENCE) *Fart noise?*