Game Night

Max and Annie (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams) are a highly competitive but loving couple, so when successful and older brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler), invites them over for a special Game Night at his abode the duo is out to win all the marbles, so to speak. For funsies the evening’s game happens to be a live action kidnap drama, whodunit. Trouble is, the live action is real, and Max and Annie find themselves caught up in a real life kidnaping mystery, solving the plot will require their wit, wisdom, a bit of dumb luck, and their friends. Can they win this one? For the Gipper, maybe? Directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and Written by Mark Perez this goofy romp sets up a few good laughs and equally chair squirming winces to make for a flash round of cinematic escapism. And, while the overall plot isn’t terribly advanced, and humor points don’t create the laugh riot it could be, the charm is still there, the heartbeat is well enough to let this baby roam free. Furthermore, Bateman and McAdams on screen chemistry is infectious and the rest of the ensemble including Billy Magnussen, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunburry, Sharon Horgan, and Jesse Plemons make for equally awkward and enjoyable interplay, one could say they’re great fellow contestants in the game. A fun distraction if you’ve already exhausted all of your Oscar watch list, Game Night is rated R.