Max and Annie's Big Adventure

Okay, I have a confession to make.  I’m a bit of a sucker for R-rated comedies, not so much the raunchy ‘American Pie’/’Hangover’ variety as the violent ‘Pineapple Express’/’Spy’ kind.  So when I saw the trailer of the new Jason Bateman movie ‘Game Night,’ about an average Joe party game enthusiast whose night of innocuous fun takes an unexpected and deadly turn, I was immediately intrigued.  And to top it off, its certified “fresh” rating of 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes didn’t hurt either.

 

GN is the story of Max (Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams), who share a fondness and ultra-competitiveness for game night activities such as “Trivial Pursuit" and "Charades."  The couple hosts a weekly game night and invites their like-minded friends, except the creepy cop neighbor with all the personality of a wooden 2-by-4 who wanted to join in the festivities.    When Max’s successful Wall Street tycoon brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler), whom he has an inferiority complex towards, visits and invites the couple and their friends to a game night to remember, a live-action role-playing “murder mystery” party, Max and Annie discovered to their chagrin that they may have bitten off more than they could chew.

Scathingly funny, sharply witty and a bit bloody, GN is an immensely entertaining and deeply satisfying dark comedy about all the ways an innocent night of fun and games can go wrong, so very wrong.  Bateman’s Max and McAdams’s Annie have great chemistry, and it's great watching them cope with the numerous obstacles and life-threatening situations they face throughout the movie.  And I dare say McAdams has never looked cuter.  I first saw her as the snotty “Queen Bee” in the 2004 film ‘Mean Girls.’  Never would I have imagined in a thousand years at the time that she would develop into a versatile actress and enjoy the success she’s having now while “good girl” Lindsay Lohan is the one to self-destruct.  Fate can be a fickle mistress indeed.

Grade: A