Fun and wacky, if a little trigger-happy
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS, Liam Neeson, Denzel washington, Tommy Lee Jones . . . none of them are in Game Night, but they all get namechecks in a lively, witty screenplay crammed with references to popular culture.
The film does feature sharon Horgan, the appealing Irish actress and comedian who has become such a fixture on British TV and, although her talents are underused in a fairly unobtrusive supporting role, she could certainly have chosen a worse comedy with which to launch her Hollywood career, if launching it is what she means to do.
Jason Bateman and rachel Mcadams star as Max and annie, a couple who meet at a quiz night in a bar when they both simultaneously identify Tinky winky as the purple Teletubby.
soon they are married and indulging their ultra-competitive love of games and quizzes. But the main object of Max’s competitive streak — his rich, successful and taller brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) — is not yet on the scene.
all we know is that a doctor investigating the couple’s failure to conceive thinks that Max’s low sperm count might be down to the stress he feels about Brooks. ‘sibling rivalry can be very powerful,’ she points out. ‘Cain and abel, the Baldwins . . .’
Game Night (15) Verdict: Likeable comedy ★★★✩✩
During one of Max and annie’s beloved game nights with their friends, Brooks finally arrives in the same model of Corvette stingray that Max had craved as a child.
His ostentatious entrance destroys their efforts to keep quiet so as not to alert their creepy next- door neighbour ( Jesse plemons, pictured), a cop who yearns to take part in game night, but hasn’t been invited since his wife left him.
His only friend is a west Highland terrier and, of course, we haven’t seen the last of either of them.
Brooks then hosts a game night of his own, but, typically, wants it to be bigger and better than Max’s. He arranges a murder mystery evening featuring actors who will make it seem real.
unfortunately, this is pre-empted by a genuine kidnapping. Brooks, it transpires, is in trouble with a gangster called The Bulgarian who wants to recover a stolen Faberge egg. once they’ve realised it’s not all an act, Max, annie and their friends ( including Horgan’s character sarah, who has come along on a first date) now have to save Brooks for real. written down, all this is even sillier than it is on screen, and it’s pretty silly there, too. It’s a wacky-concept comedy which sometimes flags, but in parts is truly funny. The script by Mark perez is sharp, and directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley do a decent job, aided by some extremely engaging performances. and yet, I have a caveat. There’s a lot of violence here in the name of comedy, and plenty of knockabout ‘ fun’ with firearms. Hollywood liberals are at the forefront of the campaign for u.s. gun- control laws — and more power to them — but it wouldn’t hurt if, in making their films, they were a little less trigger-happy themselves.