Game nights with friends can be amusing, thrilling, or even frightening. However, Game Night is rarely any of those things.
There are no winners in this dark suburban satire that boasts an ambitious genre-bending premise and a sharp ensemble cast, only to lack the ability to solve its own convoluted narrative puzzle.
The story follows Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams), who bonded over their respective dominance at bar trivia and shared affinity for gameplay. So they got married, and became the hosts of a weekly neighborhood game night for their tight-knit group of regulars.
Then Max’s smug older brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) pays a visit, and he suggests dispensing with the usual Charades and in favor of having everyone over to his house for a murder mystery party, complete with hired actors.
So when Brooks is kidnapped by thugs, the guests assume it’s part of the game, and begin their quest to find him and solve the crime. But when clues suggest that the abduction wasn’t a game, their efforts to rescue Brooks take on much higher stakes.
Bateman and McAdams bolster the proceedings with their respective comic talents and a playful chemistry highlighted in a hilarious opening montage that summarizes their relationship. McAdams, in particular, deserves more dialogue and action than she’s given.
The sophomore effort for the filmmaking tandem of John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, who previously helmed the ill-conceived remake of Vacation, showcases some stylish touches, such as an impressive single-take heist sequence during a crowded party.
Yet the screenplay by Mark Perez (The Country Bears) gets caught between a slapstick farce, a violent crime thriller, and a send-up of modern home-invasion movies — except it doesn’t seamlessly combine nor fully commit to those disparate elements. Too many of the gags are labored or predictable or both.
Instead, we’re left with some scattered big laughs, some agreeably loopy banter between sibling rivals, and a scene-stealing turn by Jesse Plemons (TV’s “Friday Night Lights”) as a creepy neighbor and fellow game-night aficionado who’s struggling to move on after a divorce.
By the final act, Game Night becomes more reliant on contrived twists and its characters’ lack of common sense. Perhaps it should have more frequently rolled the dice.
