Review of Gaming-Centred Recommendation – Game Night

Yeah, what I mean by the title is a film whose premise is centred around a game, not based off of a game. I already did that review a while back with Tomb Raider and Detective Pikachu, so don’t expect me to be defending/trashing Mortal Kombat any time soon. Regardless, let’s review this awesome movie while developing cabin fever over all the poker we’re playing and cheating at.

Game Night was directed by John Francis Daley and John Goldstein, the guys who co-wrote the script for Spider-Man: Homecoming. It is clear in every frame of this film that they are absolutely loving their job – the cinematography pops off the screen, every scene is infused with a great sense of joy, and every actor on screen is absolutely enjoying themselves as well (healthy director, awesome actors).

And I must stress, the cinematography and camerawork of this movie is awesome. Barry Petersen, the cinematographer of Zoolander and Brooklyn Nine-Nine, gives every action scene all of the wide shots and swooping movements that have been missing from many major action films these days, and he’s constantly one-upping himself with gliding, fluid long takes and neon-soaked streets straight out of the movie Drive (while lacking pretension). It really should be talked about more about how great the camerawork in this movie is, as while it’s not trying to be a beautiful artistic statement in imagery, the movement and the style it brings really elevates it to something more.

The score by Cliff Martinez, electronic and snakey in its tone, also fits this movie perfectly, landing right with the cinematography in the tone that these guys want to hit. Add some great songs from the likes of Queen and Third Eye Blind, and you have a really great soundtrack, especially for a comedy movie.

Onto the cast of this movie, and oh my, they are fantastic. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams have off-the-charts chemistry as a husband and wife caught in this crazy game. Billy Magnussen from Into the Woods once again shows up as a scene-stealing prescence as a lovable goofball who gets a ton of laughs, and Jesse Plemons probably gets the best laughs in the whole film as the deadpan cop Gary. Even Jeffrey Wright, Michael C. Hall and Danny Huston show up at points, which is rather nice.

But perhaps my favourite thing about this movie is that the mystery at the centre of it (which I won’t spoil, this movie is on Netflix, so go see it) is actually a really strong story with the characters thinking out real solutions that could be plausible instead of weird drivel. It does get a little wibbly when you think about it, but it’s at least better than movies like Die Hard 2 and 3, where you’re like “wait, this would not logically work in the slightest…eh, f^ck it. It’s the 90’s, no-one cares about anything, even lung cancer from smoking in a crowded airport”.

Anyway, I really like this movie and find it quite underappreciated. I’m going to give it an 8.5/10, with some wibbly plot issues getting in the way of perfection.

Anyway, what did you think of Game Night? Leave your answers in the comments below.