Game Night
Warner Bros. | Release Date: February 23, 2018 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 41 Critic Reviews
Positive:
30
Mixed:
11
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
Village VoiceApril WolfeFeb 20, 2018
Mark Perez has written one of the tightest comedy scripts to make it to be the big screen in ages. Game Night, directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, wastes not a single second of dialogue, gives killer lines to every member of its all-star ensemble, delivers genuinely tense action sequences, and even goes for broke with style. Read full review
92
TheWrapAlonso DuraldeFeb 20, 2018
Fast and funny, filled with memorable characters, and able to balance slapstick and violence without spilling too far in either direction, this frenetic R-rated farce is that rare comic gem that lands on all the spaces without ever going to jail. Read full review
90
IGNWilliam BibbianiFeb 21, 2018
It takes real intelligence to make the best dumb jokes. Game Night has plenty of both, combining skilled filmmaking and ridiculous gags in equal measure, and letting the seriousness and silliness play off of each other for maximum effect. Read full review
88
LarsenOnFilmJosh LarsenAug 2, 2018
Watching Game Night is like witnessing someone on a hot streak while playing charades. As they keep nailing points for their team in rapid succession, you wonder how long they can sustain it. In Game Night, it’s the laughs that just keep coming. Read full review
88
RogerEbert.comMatt Zoller SeitzFeb 21, 2018
This is one of the best surprises of a still-young movie year: a comedy that takes nothing seriously except fun. Read full review
83
Entertainment WeeklyLeah GreenblattFeb 20, 2018
McAdams, whose comedic skills have gone unsung for way too long, is dizzy fun. The whole movie is, actually, even if it pretty much evaporates on impact — a kooky, vicarious loop of Mad Libs meets Cards Against Humanity, where whoever’s holding the popcorn last wins. Read full review
80
EmpireAmy WestFeb 26, 2018
With its clever, whip-smart script and enthusiastic ensemble cast firing on all cylinders, crime comedy filmmakers John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein score big with Game Night. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliFeb 26, 2018
It maintains its cheekiness while poking fun at the overused concept of redemption. Most importantly, it stays funny up to the beginning of the end credits, and maybe a little beyond. Read full review
75
New York PostJohnny OleksinskiFeb 22, 2018
A riotous dark comedy in which a cute suburban get-together becomes a lethal nightmare. Read full review
75
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kate TaylorFeb 22, 2018
The overall results are unusually wholesome – and satisfyingly funny. Game Night is the kind of harmless comedy you rarely see these days, as happily entertaining as a good game of Pictionary. Read full review
75
The PlaylistWill AshtonFeb 22, 2018
Game Night is a winner, plain and simple. Brisk and engaging (and surprisingly powered by a score from Cliff Martinez that’s expectedly great), this is a comedy that’s worth rolling the dice on. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleFeb 22, 2018
It’s not a movie that will make you tired, but lack of ambition can sometimes be a strength. This is a comedy-thriller made simply to please in the moment, and it does, for almost every minute of its 100-minute running time. Read full review
75
Philadelphia Daily NewsGary ThompsonFeb 22, 2018
Game Night is not the greatest comedy in the world, but it has a great grasp of the ingredient that makes comedy work, identified centuries ago as brevity. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversFeb 22, 2018
Bateman's dazzling deadpan can raise tired zingers to raucous life with only a throwaway eyebrow lift. And McAdams takes to comedy with a natural actor's grace and precision. Talk about fun company. They're it. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperFeb 22, 2018
There are more than enough laughs and clever surprises in this broad and sometimes violent farce to warrant a recommendation, thanks to a solidly funny script by Mark Perez, some pretty neat camera moves and choreographed action/comedic sequences from directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein — and a likable and talented ensemble cast, led by two of my favorites. Read full review
75
The Associated PressLindsey BahrFeb 21, 2018
A charismatic ensemble cast, a sharp script and a few well-placed twists make Game Night one of the more enjoyable big studio comedies in recent memory. Read full review
75
Consequence of SoundMichael RoffmanFeb 20, 2018
It’s essentially David Fincher’s The Game matched with the comic overtones of Horrible Bosses, which is why it winds up being an entertaining jaunt. Read full review
75
IndieWireSteve GreeneFeb 20, 2018
At first, you may be inclined to reject it outright, but Game Night works so hard to win viewers over that it eventually finds its way to a winning formula. Read full review
70
SlateSam AdamsMar 4, 2018
The back and forth between McAdams and Bateman is what makes Game Night sing. Read full review
70
New York Magazine (Vulture)Emily YoshidaFeb 23, 2018
It won’t fix the studio comedy, but it’s a welcome, watchable outlier for now. Read full review
70
Vanity FairRichard LawsonFeb 22, 2018
It’s a good time, but it maybe could have been a great one. Which I suppose is true of so many nights meant to deliver us from the doldrums of settled life. I don’t think that meta-ness is a deliberate feature of Game Night. But with all the sharpness Daley and Goldstein show us here, I’m not ruling it out, either. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzFeb 22, 2018
It’s ridiculous, far-fetched — absurdist, even. Some, or even a lot, of the jokes are stupid. But thanks in part to a terrific cast, expert timing and an all-in aesthetic, it's really funny. Read full review
70
New York Daily NewsStephen Whitty Feb 20, 2018
A lot of the jokes are surprising, and one gag...pays off terrifically. The two top stars are delightful, and a couple of cameos are nice surprises. Read full review
70
VarietyOwen GleibermanFeb 20, 2018
The movie manipulates its audience in cunning and puckish ways. It’s no big whoop, but you’re happy to have been played. Read full review
67
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallFeb 22, 2018
Game Night is one of those comedy tweeners in which the jokes that click are milked too long and jokes that don’t will take too long to confirm that. Appropriately for the premise, it’ll likely be more enjoyable at home with friends. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubA.A. Dowd Feb 20, 2018
This tame but fitfully funny goof on suspense cinema at least assembles an agreeable guest list.... As with any real game night, the company is more important than the game. Read full review
63
Washington PostStephanie MerryFeb 22, 2018
Like a real-life game night, the comedy may not leave a lasting impression, but it’s plenty of fun while it lasts. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsFeb 22, 2018
Game Night itself is not a long night; it’s reasonably snappy. But co-directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein place a misjudged emphasis on keeping the violence and the action “real,” so at its most routine and generic, the movie forgets it’s supposed to be a comedy. Read full review
63
Slant MagazineKeith WatsonFeb 22, 2018
The film establishes coherent characters and drops them into a twisty mystery plot that’s tightly crafted enough to generate some real narrative momentum while never getting too bogged down in its own plot that it forgets to be funny. Read full review
63
Movie NationRoger MooreFeb 20, 2018
Way too much of Game Night is given away in the trailer, the violence is a bit much and truth be told — the folding in on itself plot gets in its own way, especially in the third act. But Bateman makes the big bucks for being the best put-upon “hero” in comedy. And McAdams, doing an epic Amanda Plummer (“Pulp You Know What,” remember?) absolutely steals the picture. Read full review
60
The TelegraphHelen O'HaraMay 12, 2018
The set-pieces are quick, light and for the most part fun. What Game Night lacks in (any) plausibility or coherence it makes up for in Friday night, pleasingly brainless entertainment. Read full review
60
The GuardianBenjamin LeeFeb 20, 2018
The Jason Bateman comedy model hasn’t quite been radically altered in Game Night but it’s one of his more entertaining outings. Just don’t count on remembering much of it once the night is over. Read full review
55
UproxxVince ManciniFeb 22, 2018
It’s hard to say Game Night is entirely bad. I laughed a lot and its creators are clearly capable of crafting a joke. Yet they seem to have either an incomplete or an incredibly cynical conception of what a movie is. Read full review
50
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldFeb 22, 2018
The movie relies rather too heavily on McAdams’ charm, sort of like a limp cheeseburger that’s saved by some really good bacon. But hey, sometimes a fast-food cheeseburger satisfies, more or less. Read full review
50
Austin ChronicleDanielle WhiteFeb 22, 2018
The film owes what charm it has to a whip-smart script (heavy on double entendres – a delight for word nerds and game geeks alike), and the chemistry between its actors. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTom RussoFeb 21, 2018
For all the energy that Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, and their castmates pour into their gimmicky comedy, there’s too often a feeling that they’re straining to pump up flat material. Read full review
50
The New York TimesGlenn KennyFeb 21, 2018
The movie is a pointed reminder that Ms. McAdams is one of cinema’s most accomplished and appealing comic actresses. It’s almost heartbreaking to contemplate how amazing she would be in a new comedy that was more than intermittently O.K. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterJon FroschFeb 20, 2018
There are chuckles here and there, but a striking absence of belly laughs; Girls Trip it’s decidedly not. Read full review
40
Paste MagazineOktay Ege Kozak Mar 2, 2018
Bateman and McAdams have some fun with the gonzo goofiness of the project, and milk a couple of comedy set-pieces—like one about a gunshot wound and a squeaky toy—but the flatness of their characters leaves no room for relatability. Read full review
40
Los Angeles TimesJustin ChangFeb 22, 2018
Certainly you expect a good time from Bateman and McAdams, who give their banter just the right sly, sportive rhythm even when the lines and situations themselves come up short. Read full review
40
Time OutJoe McGovernFeb 20, 2018
The movie’s only vaguely human presence is Sharon Horgan (the gifted writer and star of TV’s Catastrophe), who gazes upon the manufactured gags with an air of chagrin. If the movie had risen even an inch to her level, Game Night might've had some game. Read full review
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