It is funny the pathways that can lead you to certain movies.  I have seen Game Night (2018).  I believe I may have seen it in the theater, although Amazon Prime would indicate that I watched it on that streaming service.  If it was not me, then perhaps one of the few with which I share my password.  Yes, I am one of those guys.  In any case, I was on Netflix scrolling through the comedies, looking for something quick, and I noticed a pattern: romantic comedy, romantic comedy, romantic comedy, romantic comedy, etc.  I have screened a few of these lately, and I even enjoyed a title or two.  But, talk about derivative.  I cannot pinpoint the exact title that made today’s film pop into my brain.  What I can tell you is that it is not the boy meets girl, they fall in love, crazy things happen to challenge this new romance, and ultimately they find new meaning in themselves and each other formula.  You know, the classic.  Instead, it is something different, and I think that is the main element for which I was hoping.

Speaking of boy meets girl, that is how Game Night begins.  Okay, so maybe not entirely original.  Max Davis (Jason Bateman) encounters Annie (Rachel McAdams) at bar trivia, and it is their competitiveness that attracts them to each other.  Soon, they are married, going so far as to incorporate gaming into their reception.  They carry on the tradition of getting together with friends for some friendly matches of things like Jenga, Monopoly, and charades.  Through it all, Max hates to lose.  He gets this drive from having to grow up with his older brother, Brooks Davis (Kyle Chandler).  This is brought up when Annie and Max visit their doctor to investigate why they have not yet been able to conceive a child.  Dr. Chin (Camille Chen), their physician, suggests that it could be stress held over from when Max was younger.  Dr. Chin is more interested, though, when it is revealed that Brooks is more successful, single, and coming to visit that day.  Annie and Max return to their home and have to dodge another potential problem.  They live next door to Officer Gary Kingsbury (Jesse Plemons).  Gary and his ex-wife, Debbie (Jessica Lee), used to be fixtures during the title evenings, but since the divorce he has been a little, well, odd.  As such, Annie and Max take precautions to avoid letting Gary know that they are having get togethers, even though it is evident what is happening.  These measures include having the guests park out of sight and sneak into the Davis residence.  By the way, I will introduce the other characters as needed.  For now, know that it is Brooks loud arrival, in Max’s dream Corvette to boot, that ruins the secrecy.  The night carries on anyway, though Max is clearly set off by his brother.  As a gesture to make it up to Max, Brooks offers to host them all the following week.  The same group of people get to Brooks’ mansion, save for the serial date of hunky but dopey Ryan Huddle (Billy Magnussen), she being the much sharper Sarah Darcy (Sharon Horgan).  However, instead of the usual activities, Brooks has hired a professional acting company to do a murder mystery.  He then announces that the first person to find whoever it is that is about to be kidnapped will get his vintage sports car.  Not long thereafter, there is a pounding on the door and so-called Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agent Ron Henderson (Jeffrey Wright) enters to commence the contest.  He is interrupted, though, when two thugs with guns burst in, knock out Ron, and begin struggling with Brooks.  Everyone else sits on the couch watching it unfold.  It is violent, but they believe it to be part of the act.  Meanwhile, their host has duct tape placed over his mouth and is taken away.  Thinking they need to continue the game, they start looking through the dossiers provided by the company.  From here, our six couples split up, each following their own leads.  It is Annie and Max that have the most “luck,” if you will, using technology to track Brooks’ phone to a seedy bar.  While they find Brooks, they also learn that what is going on is more real than they anticipated.  They manage to get away with Brooks, but with Max taking a bullet in his forearm.  As they flee, Brooks explains that he is not the venture capitalist that he had told everyone.  Instead, he has been involved with smuggling and other illicit activities.  Namely, he had obtained a Fabregé for a criminal known as the Bulgarian (Michael C. Hall), but sold it to somebody going by Marlon Freeman (Danny Huston).  Thus, Brooks assumes it is the Bulgarian’s men who are coming after them, and advises his brother and Annie not to go to the police before throwing himself out of the car.  There is one cop they realize they can trust, and that is Gary.  Thus, they all meet at his house, and distract him with Jenga as Max uses his “cop computer” to locate Marlon.  When they do, it is off to a swanky mansion where they swipe the egg in the middle of a “rich guy fight club,” something with which Ryan is fascinated.  On the way to exchanging the egg for Brooks, they accidentally break it open and find inside a list of people in the witness protection program.  As they try to give their excuses, Gary arrives to save the day, though is shot in the process.  As he lays supposedly dying, it is then that he reveals that the whole night had been a set up by him.  Or is it?  I say this because this is when the real Bulgarian comes onto the scene, a person with which Brooks is all too familiar.  He swallows the list, forcing the Bulgarian to take him.  Once more, it is up Max to save his brother, which he does with some help from Annie.  The final shot is all of them back at Brooks’ real apartment getting ready for another night of games, though with a van full of thugs outside.

There are a few twists and turns in Game Night, which made it somewhat fun.  There is also a little character development sprinkled in, which is always nice.  The best of this last bit for this practicing Catholic is the desire of Annie and Max to have a baby.  Though there is zero indication that they are at all Catholic, and would probably find any kind of teaching the Church has to offer as absurd, their commitment to bringing the next generation into the world is at least consistent with what it says married couples should do, if they are able.  I added in that last caveat as a bulwark against that silly Catholic stereotype about women simply being baby factories.  Look up the Creighton Model for Natural Family Planning some time.  It was developed by Catholics, and is immensely more scientific than what detractors would label as the “rhythm method.”  Getting back to the movie, though it takes place under extreme conditions, I also appreciate the discernment they go through in choosing to have the baby.  The Creighton Model is not just about tracking a woman’s fertility, but it is also a tool for when to have a baby at the right time.  There are a lot of factors that go into this, emotional and financial being among them.  For Max, it is all emotion, the stress of competing with Brooks being one part, the other being Max’s desire to hold on to the freedom that comes with being childless.  I highly doubt anyone on that set had heard of Creighton Model, yet the parallel is roughly the same.  The most important thing, though, is that they say yes to life.

There are some mildly funny moments in Game Night.  At the same time, Jason Bateman is his usually witty self.  If this is your idea of a good character, then go for it.  He is getting a little tired, though, so I can understand if you are not interested in this one.  Still, you could do worse.