Charades to die for

Game Night 

Starring: Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, Kyle Chandler.

Directors: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein

Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime

Rating: PG-15

RUNTIME: 100 Mins

Having a game night sounds like a perfect way to unwind with some close friends, but throw in a couple that can’t bear to lose and an all-too-real murder mystery, and you get something that’ll keep you on your toes better than a round of charades.

Game Night is John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein’s latest directorial adventure, a curious mix of crime and action, with a less than generous, but still somewhat flavourful scoop of dark comedy mixed in.

Bateman and McAdams star as Max and Annie, whose weekly couples game night gets kicked up a notch when Max’s charming and successful brother, Brooks, arranges a murder mystery party that spirals delightfully out of control.

Set up as a loving, but highly-competitive marriage, their chemistry drives the story forward as they reinforce each other’s good (and bad) behaviour. They manage to escape a lot of cliched ‘obnoxious competitiveness’ moments, and that’s partly due to the intermittent servings of dark humour.

The ‘dark comedy’ is not so much dark as it is a slightly disappointing shade of grey. The film isn’t quite brave enough to show you its juiciest chops, which is a real shame considering the incredibly talented comedic cast and the raw potential of its premise, but it still manages to be funny in a way it perhaps did not intend.

The story itself verges on the silly and outlandish side, but for the most part it fulfills its purpose as a palatable diving board for the actual jokes. Some don’t land a perfect 10, but a lot of them do, and it’s enough to keep you invested in the plot, which at this point, feels more like the sideshow.

Something that stands out in the film, more than the actual story or humour at times, is the action sequences. Cut together in engaging and fast-paced ways, they provide high-voltage bursts of energy that work really well with the music mixing.

Whilst Jason Bateman comes in confidently with his wealth of experience, it’s Rachel McAdams that steals the spotlight here, so I’m hopeful that she’ll make more similar returns to comedy. Her demeanour is effortlessly understated, making her numerous madcap moments throughout the film all the more absurd and hilarious.

Jesse Plemons plays our neighbourhood weirdo Officer Gary with a dead-behind-the-eyes stare and perfect pitch awkwardness, hitting the right note every time to make us feel just the right amount of uncomfortable.

The movie leans on the weird next door neighbour trope a little heavily, making scenes with his character more awkward than the kind of bellyful funny we get from similar weirdoes like Melissa McCarthy’s Megan in Bridesmaids, or Kevin Spacey’s Dave Harken in Horrible Bosses.

It’s times like these that you see the scaffolding of Hollywood mainstream comedy peeking through the plasterboard, because at the end of the day, Game Night is not trying hard enough to do anything new.

Still fun, and a lot more watchable than a lot of other recent studio releases of its kind, but it hasn’t really succeeded in fixing the comedy drought that we’ve seen happening in recent years.

That doesn’t mean you won’t enjoy it for what it does offer its audience, and you can bet it doesn’t just stop at a round of Pictionary.

Now showing in: Cineco, Seef II, Dana Cinemas, Wadi Al Sail, Mukta A2, Al Jazeera

Anna’s verdict: 3/5