Game Night
Game Night (2018)
Have you met your soulmate? I’m not talking heart swelling Jack & Rose stuff but your cerebral equal when it comes to trivial, popular culture pub quizzes? And yet, let’s face it, the fun is limited to accommodate our less capable members of the same friendship circle. Amaright?
What do you do? You marry that person and make it your lifestyle. And thus we are introduced to Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, the couple who host a regular game night with their social group.
My understanding is that while for most people the novelty of a zoom quiz died out in week 3 of the first Lockdown, mine is still going strong 8 months later. To say I relate to this group of competitive compadres is an understatement (may I refer you to previous posts where I’ve documented my feral family playing Pictionary on Christmas Day. It’s Battle Royale).
Fortunately for me events have never turned this bloodthirsty. For what appears on page to be your frat-boy-turned-40 fare, it is instead a stylish and sophisticated farce. I was pointed in the direction of this film for its fantastic score by Cliff Martinez (Drive, Traffic) which immediately elevates it’s street cred. Harking back to 1980s domestic absurdism like Ruthless People or Down and Out in Beverley Hills (you’re welcome, Bette Midler) this daft film will appeal to your innocent desire for safe anarchy.
The two leads couldn’t be more lemon drizzle cake. She was a bitter psychotic bitch in Mean Girls and he the reigning dad-gone-bad in Ozark. But this alliance shows them as easy-going norms in the eye of a storm. They can comfortably ground you in the most terrifying of situations with a cosy and casual turn of phrase. It’s Bateman’s show though. Or maybe I’m biased. I have been obsessed with his line delivery since I discovered the championed yet under-viewed Arrested Development 15 years ago. Honestly if you appreciate high-brow comedy and you’ve not seen this sitcom do your sanity a favour and watch it today. It’s on Netflix. There’s really no excuse. In fact watch it instead of this!
Jason Bateman’s low-key line reading never fails to delight. Amy Adams can’t hold a candle to this guy. No one underplays a crucial sentence in such a throwaway mutter like JB (“right in my bullet hole”). We need to coin a verb for when someone succinctly mumbles something hilariously simple in the face of extreme circumstances.
The two leads aside, you are served an affable ensemble cast with familiar faces from New Girl and Friday Night Lights to name but two. The occasionally laugh~out~loud and charming screenplay is littered with pop culture references. Part screwball comedy part stressful heist movie you will find this relatable, fun and ridiculous. And it’s perfect for a Friday night in with chilled bottles of lager and a pizza.
7 Organised Chaotic Thumbs Up!
