(reviewed by our guest critic, The Movie Knight) When it comes to game night, no one competes the way Max and Annie (Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams) do. No matter what the game, the two are unstoppable. Except whenever Max’s brother, Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes to play. On this evening, Brooks promises to “Take things up a notch.” Those are not empty words as Max, Annie and all their friends find themselves on an adventure that might not completely be a game.

If you show up late don’t worry, you didn’t miss anything. For almost the first half of the movie practically everything about it falls flat, the jokes, the action, nothing pays off. It’s like watching a bad comic on stage who sets up his joke but fails to deliver on the punch line. However, as the story progresses you do become more involved and good laughs start to come your way. This is co-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein second feature working together. The first was the new Vacation outing, which was a surprisingly well made. Here, it just felt uneven.

This is one of those projects where if the entire cast were unknowns, it probably would not have worked at all. Jason Bateman likes to dabble in dramas, and he does decent work there, but he always thrives in comedies. He makes them better. Rachel McAdams is better known for her dramatic turns, but she has always had a knack for comedies and delivers her best performance in one here. The entire supporting cast all bring their ‘A’ game to Game Night.

Rated R comedies are hard to get right. For every ‘Hangover’ there is a Deuce Bigalow movie. This one will not go down as a classic but won’t be remembered as one of the worst ones made either.

2 Tiaras