Game Night | What to Watch

(Image credit: Warner Brothers Pictures)

Whipping together laughs and thrills in ample measure, this is an immensely entertaining action comedy starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams

Whipping together laughs and thrills in ample measure, this is an immensely entertaining action comedy starring Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams.

They play a married couple whose weekly game night with their ultra-competitive pals gets alarmingly out of hand after Bateman’s annoyingly cool older brother (Kyle Chandler) becomes involved.

Chandler hires a company to stage a mystery night, complete with a bogus kidnapping and a trail of clues to solve, but as the night unfolds it quickly becomes hard to tell what's fake and what's perilously real.

This movie benefits from a cunningly intricate plot, nimble action and a witty script, but it's the performances that make the film so much fun.

Bateman and McAdams' engaging leads receive enjoyable support from the likes of Billy Magnussen (enthusiastic dimwit) and Sharon Horgan (his unimpressed work colleague-cum-date).

Best of all, though, is Jesse Plemons as Bateman and McAdams’ embarrassingly awkward next-door neighbour, a lovelorn divorced cop whose desperation to join the players proves creepily hilarious.