Game Night 4K 2018

Directors John Francis Daly and Jonathan Goldstein have done a great job of working through the mistakes after their last film “Vacation” and have made a movie on a whole different level. “Night Games” is a smart comedy thriller with great direction. They especially tried to work on the technical side, something that comedies don't usually pay attention to.

“Night Games”, with not a very large timing, is filled with events and actions that do not let you get bored. Screenwriter Mark Perez has not been involved in strong projects before, but this time he wrote a twisted, black humor-filled story.

The movie tells us about a married couple, Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams), who get together with friends every week to play board games. On one of those nights, Max's brother shows up and suggests a role-playing game where there will be a real-life kidnapping of one of the participants.

There are some fun unexpected twists in “Night Games.” In general, the movie reminds and even parodies David Fincher's “The Game”, and it is done so well that except for the main idea there are almost no similarities.

The movie has a talented cast. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams, who play the main roles, of course, are good and there is chemistry between them, but all the attention is taken by Jesse Plemons, who played a minor, but no less important character. Plemons steals every scene he appears in.

The entire technical side of the movie deserves separate praise. For example, “Night Games” has inventive editing. As many as three editors worked on it. Of this trio, in my opinion, stands out Gregory Plotkin, who previously worked on the horrors “Away” and “Happy Death Day” (both released in 2017 and were well received by the audience and critics).

Barry Peterson's (“We're the Millers,” “Macho and Nerd 1, 2”) camerawork is just as noteworthy. In “Night Games” there are enough beautiful shots, playing with light and skillful camerawork. Composer Cliff Martinez (“Neon Demon”, “Drive”) also made a tangible contribution, the soundtrack is very good.

As it seemed to me, the problem of the movie is in the characters, many of them were left undiscovered and not properly developed. The most vivid example is the character of Danny Huston, who appears in the frame for a short while and does not carry any meaning, although it was possible to do something really cool with him. Another problem is some drawn out scenes, which broke the overall drive of the tape.

Daly and Goldstein managed to create a great comedy that can entertain even the sophisticated viewer. The movie, of course, turned out to be not without minuses, but where the narrative part suffers, the visual part works. I got exactly what I expected from the movie: a witty, stylish comedy.