SSC 09: Game Night (Francis Daley, Goldstein, 2018)

Single Serving Cinema

Tim and Tay talk comedy (Apatow & otherwise), late '90s pop, and board games in this episode that looks at Game Night. This recent comedy breathed fresh air into the genre by returning to a few simple techniques while updating a few dated tropes.

Max & Annie’s weekly game night is kicked into high gear when Max’s visiting brother Brooks arranges for a fake kidnapping. The three couples playing the game soon find out that it and Brooks are more than they appear, leading them on a chaotic night of fun, danger, and more.
Game Night was directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, stars Jason Bateman, Rachel McAdams, and Kyle Chandler, and debuted on February 23, 2018.
Tagline — "This is not a game."
Game Night is available as a digital rental.

Scene (32:25-36:36 & 42:40-44:51)

After tracking down Brooks to a local dive bar, Max and Annie enter the joint to scope it out. Thinking that it is all part of the game night, they humorously build up the confidence to hold up the three men in the bar who appear to be holding Brooks hostage, forcing them to the floor with Pulp Fiction-inspired vigor.
There is a scene break that catches the audience up with the other two couples and when we return to the bar, Max and Annie recover the keys from one of the thugs. Brooks tries to tell them that this is not part of the game, but Max and Annie only realize this after Annie shoots the supposedly fake gun in the air. Dropping it in surprise recoil, the gun goes off again, shooting Max in the arm before the three are chased out of the building.

Links

• 7:30 - Bateman originally slated to direct
• 7:40 - Rewriting the script
• 9:50 - Assuming the worst for Game Night
• 13:50 - "How To Do Visual Comedy" (Every Frame a Painting)
• 29:50 - Developing female characters
• 33:00 - Why Bateman prefers being the straight man
• 48:00 - Filming with an R1 arm & the "GTA shot"

Recommendations

Tim: Akira (Otomo, 1988). Available to stream on Tubi.

Tay: A Scanner Darkly (Linklater, 2006). Available to stream on Crave.
Bonus Rotoscope recommendations:

• Undone (Hulsing, 2019). Available to stream on Prime.
• Joel Haver's

Follow:

• SSC on Instagram
• Tim on Letterboxd