GAME NIGHT (2018) - Murder mystery has never been as hilarious as this

Game Night is a thriller comedy directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, starring Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Billy Magnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, and Jesse Plemons. The movie follows a highly competitive, game-loving couple Max and Annie who are having trouble conceiving, which they believe is due to Max's feelings of inferiority towards his highly successful brother, Brooks. They and their friends have a tradition of weekly game nights, and when one game night hosted by Brooks spirals out of control, the friends are swept into a real-life murder mystery filled with conspiracies, plot twists, and a whole lot of laughs.

This movie was something of a surprise hit, and I'm sure most people haven't even heard of it, which is a shame considering how funny it is. We all knew Jason Bateman (of Arrested Development fame) is a comedy genius, but Rachel McAdams shines as his costar with just as great a performance. The two work surprisingly very well together and I easily bought into the chemistry the duo had, not necessarily as a romantic couple but as a team. And I also found myself really invested in these characters, with the sideplot of their struggle to conceive a child as something that adds more to their characters rather than wasting time. 

That's not to detract from any of the supporting cast either. While they weren't exactly stand-out performances, they all were really funny together and the pairings had a lot of good moments with one another, whether it's one couple's will-they-won't-they or another couple's running gag of the guy trying to figure out what celebrity the girl had slept with before (I know it sounds dumb, but trust me it builds up to a hilarious punch line.) Probably the biggest stand-out performance was from Jesse Plemons, who plays a creepy cop/former kind-of friend to the gang whose obsession with his ex-wife and desperate desire to join the friends' game night leads to some truly funny moments.

What really surprises me the most was just how well Game Night fully incorporates both comedy and mystery thriller into the movie. There are several really gut-wrenchingly hilarious gags found throughout the movie that had me actually laugh out loud, but there are also a good amount of surprisingly well done action scenes, whether it's a 1 v 2 brawl between Brooks and two kidnappers or a long take involving the gang throwing a priceless 

Fabergé egg to each other as they run around a large mansion escaping thugs. There's also a really cool visual trick that the movie uses in which pretty much every big establishing shot is made to look like a game board, along with a lot of really cool editing moments that incorporate into the game night theme.

Final Verdict

Game Night is a really funny mystery thriller with several plot twists that come out of nowhere. The cast is funny and lovable, and while the plot is obviously a parody of David Fincher's The Game, its visual flair and dark comedy does well to give Game Night its own unique flavor.

If you're ever in need of a fun movie to watch with friends at a party, this one's the way to go.

Score: B