Game Night

March 25, 2018 - Board games are out and danger is in when Jason Bateman lets his big brother host the weekly game night. Kyle Chandler plays the big brother. Rachel McAdams also stars, and Dexter shows up toward the end.

Bateman and McAdams are Max and Annie, a married couple brought together by their love of games and competition. In life, Max feels his biggest competition is his older brother, Brooks (Chandler). So, when Brooks blows into town in his fancy sports car and offers to host a game night, Max feels defeated when his friends immediately say yes.

Max's self-esteem takes another shot when he arrives at Brooks' awesome house and finds out that Brooks has changed the rules. Instead of Pictionary and charades, they'll be following clues in a much more realistic game (think Michael Douglas in 1997's The Game), and the winner gets Brooks' car. When men wearing masks and carrying guns barge into the house, they all believe it's the start of the game. Until, that is, the action gets a little too real.

Overall review: *** Don't let the plot get in the way of a good movie. The humor here is dark and the action is fast. Things happen quickly so there's not a lot of time to consider whether it all makes sense. And, for this movie, that's probably a good thing. Just sit back and enjoy.