plug: Game Night (2018)
"Who cares about winning? Let's get drunk!"
Welcome to today’s plug, a quick recommendation of an oft-forgotten film, cult classic, or movie that is dying to be rewatched // We send plugs every Tuesday + Thursday //
2018’s Game Night is a delightful and immensely rewatchable ensemble comedy about a group of friends who fall into a dangerous real-life mystery at one of their weekend “game nights.” It’s a modern, thriller-concept “screwball” comedy with a pitch-perfect cast à la What’s Up Doc, A Fish Called Wanda and the like. If you’re looking for something fun and good to watch over the holiday, I can’t recommend it enough.
Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams are both in top comedic form as an insanely competitive couple with just the right amount of chemistry, quirk, and charm to lead the ensemble. Of the main supporting cast, it’s hard to pinpoint any one actor who steals the show because their roles are all well written and they all get a chance to shine at some point or another (ex: Sharon Horgan, star of British Amazon series Catastrophe, brings her delightful brand of swagger and sharp-tongued wit to what might otherwise have been a thankless role). But if there’s any one supporting player that’ll stand out to you after the credits role, it’ll be Jesse Plemons as Bateman and McAdams’ super weird neighbor whose attempts at inviting himself to Game Night escalate to hilarious effect as the night goes on. It’s an exceptional, memorable comedic turn from one of our great working dramatic actors.
Phenomenal cast aside, everything else about this movie just works. There’s nothing in the humor that’s going to age poorly (other than the concept of an actual in-person Game Night, for the time being), which is always the inherent risk with comedies. It’s also got a great comedic rhythm and winning mix of funny writing and acting, with equal attention given to comedy and action in the editing. Composer Cliff Martinez offers up another tremendous, modern, propulsive score and DP Barry Peterson (Zoolander, 22 Jump Street) constructs visuals that really pop off.
I first saw this one in theaters on a Saturday afternoon in ‘18 and I walked out of it knowing I’d be rewatching it for years to come. Today — only two years but also a whole lifetime later — Game Night would probably come out on Netflix and have that glossy half-a-movie look. It’s already rare gem of a screwball Hollywood comedy for adults that we’ll likely only see less of in the years to come.
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