Game Night Comes Up a Winner

JASON BATEMAN and RACHEL MCADAMS are a perfect pair in the Warner Brothers adventure-comedy, GAME NIGHT.

Max (Bateman) and Annie (McAdams) met over bar games. Both are sharp-minded, quick-witted, and competitive, and they continue their game night tradition with their friends into their marriage. But lately they've begun to exclude their neighbor, Gary (JESSE PLEMONS), following his divorce, which has left the police officer seeming a bit on the creepy side, so the friends have to do their game nights with less fanfare.

Complicating matters for Max is the arrival of his older, better-looking, and more successful brother, Brooks (KYLE CHANDLER), who opts to host the next game night at a house he's renting while in town. The game is a murder mystery, so when the house gets broken into and Brooks is kidnapped before their very eyes, the players all believe this is the beginning of the game. Except it's very real, and Brooks is in deadly danger.

While believing the whole setup to be a game, Max and Annie work around the established rules, choosing to trace Brooks' phone rather than follow the riddles. It's only after they find him that they learn the truth: that Brooks is mixed up in some extremely illegal activities that are about to get him killed by some very high-profile criminals (DANNY HUSTON, MICHAEL C. HALL).

The comedic chemistry between Bateman and McAdams is clever and entertaining. Their dialogue with each other is genuine, and much of the comedy comes from an almost innocent straight delivery of their lines. The multiple twists in the film keep the action moving, and the side-plots with the other couples -- Ryan (BILLY MAGNUSSEN) who eschews bringing his usual shallow model dates in favor of a ringer with Sarah (SHARON HORGAN), and Kevin (LAMORNE MORRIS) who spends the film trying to guess the celebrity his wife Michelle (KYLIE BUNBURY) slept with -- flesh out the story quite well.

GAME NIGHT makes for a great friends' night film sure to keep a houseful of guests happy and engaged.