Game Night (2018)

Director: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein
Stars: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler
Runtime: 100 minutes

Performances: 8/10
Screenplay: 7/10
Special Effects: N.A.
Costumes/Makeup: 7/10
Editing: 7/10
Cinematography: 7/10
Score/Soundtrack: 5/10

Verdict: “Game Night” is John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s second project behind the camera, the first being 2015’s painfully bad “Vacation”. Knowing that, you can understand my skepticism going in, and my surprise going out. I honestly laughed way more than I was expecting to, and was invested in the story from beginning to end. This comedy is centered around a group of friends who are unwillingly launched into the adventure of their lives when a murder mystery night goes horribly wrong. One of the big elements that made the movie work so well for me were the performances. Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler, Kylie Bunbury, Lamorne Morris, and especially Jesse Plemons and Billy Magnussen were all perfect and hilarious in their roles. They had an incredible chemistry that was essential for the movie to work, and I really believed their friendship. Another interesting aspect of the film was (weirdly) the cinematography. The directors made the decision to make some scenes look like the main characters were moving on a board, which was a really nice touch that made me smile every time it occurred. However, "Game Night" does also have its fair share of predictable jokes that didn't quite land for me. It also had a couple of very unnecessary jump scares that took me out of the comedy for a few seconds. My final issue with the movie was the ending. I felt like it had a perfect and hilarious conclusion at one point, but then it kept going for about 15 minutes that didn't quite work for me. Despite all that, "Game Night" was one of the biggest surprises of the year, and definitely one I'd recommend to all comedy lovers.  

Final Grade: 7/10