History Film / GameNight

The film stars Creator/JasonBateman and Creator/RachelMcAdams and the supporting cast includes Creator/KyleChandler, Creator/BillyMagnussen, Creator/SharonHorgan, Lamorne Morris, Creator/KylieBunbury, Creator/JessePlemons, Creator/MichaelCHall and Creator/JeffreyWright.

* CelebrityParadox: The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse exists in that film's world, since ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'' is mentioned, along with the two actors who play Bruce Banner/Hulk in it. Creator/RachelMcAdams plays Christine Palmer, Film/DoctorStrange2016's LoveInterest in the MCU.

** Nobody but Max remembers that Creator/EdwardNorton played [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk Bruce Banner/Hulk]] until he reminds them.

** Max references ''Film/PrimalFear'' and ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'' when trying to get his team to guess Creator/EdwardNorton, but his team guesses all the ''other'' Hulk films and TV series instead of that one.

The film stars Creator/JasonBateman and Creator/RachelMcAdams and the supporting cast includes Creator/KyleChandler, Creator/BillyMagnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Creator/KylieBunbury, Creator/JessePlemons, Creator/MichaelCHall and Creator/JeffreyWright.

* TheChessmaster: If the closing credits are to be believed [[spoiler: Gary know about more than he lets on including the Bulgarian.]]

The film stars Creator/JasonBateman and Creator/RachelMcAdams and the supporting cast includes Creator/KyleChandler, Creator/BillyMagnussen, Sharon Horgan, Lamorne Morris, Kylie Bunbury, Creator/JessePlemons, Creator/MichaelCHall and Creator/JeffreyWright.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Brooks is a smug, overbearing jerk who tends to belittle and humiliate Max [[spoiler: and turns out to be up to his neck in dodgy dealings]], but he does genuinely love his brother and is willing to go to great lengths to protect him. It's even eventually revealed that [[spoiler:he'd rigged his game in the first place to let Max win his expensive car.]]

* EveryOneHasStandards: Annie initially isn't very fond of Brooks, given that [[SiblingRivalry:Brooks constantly undermines Max at practically any opportunity]] and she blames Brooks for stressing Max out causing them to have [[LawOfInverseFertility conceiving problems]]. However, when Annie catches on that Brooks is in severe danger and being held for ransom [[spoiler:though the first time was a sham conceived by Gary to include him in their game nights]], she is '''clearly''' terrified and worried for Brooks' safety, and rather than encouraging Max to leave him for dead, fully dedicates herself to save him. The same can be said about Annie in regards to Gary. Moments after his introduction and Max asks why they don't invite him to game nights, Annie says that Debbie, Gary's ex-wife, was their friend and that Gary was just the [[NoSocialSkills "creepy]] husband that [[TheFriendNobodyLikes we had to put up with".]] Although after Gary got shot in the chest area, [[spoiler:once again the first time was part of Gary's plot, the second time was real, though he thankfully lived]] Annie was horrified at what happened and even [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone tearfully apologized to Gary for shunning him and saying he was their friend.]]

* EveryOneHasStandards: Annie initially isn't very fond of Brooks, given that[[SiblingRivalry: Brooks constantly undermines Max at practically any opportunity]] and she blames Brooks for stressing Max out causing them to have [[LawOfInverseFertility conceiving problems]]. However, when Annie catches on that Brooks is in severe danger and being held for ransom [[spoiler:though the first time was a sham conceived by Gary to include him in their game nights]], she is '''clearly''' terrified and worried for Brooks' safety, and rather than encouraging Max to leave him for dead, fully dedicates herself to save him. The same can be said about Annie in regards to Gary. Moments after his introduction and Max asks why they don't invite him to game nights, Annie says that Debbie, Gary's ex-wife, was their friend and that Gary was just the [[NoSocialSkills "creepy]] husband that [[TheFriendThatNobodyLikes we had to put up with".]] Although after Gary got shot in the chest area, [[spoiler:once again the first time was part of Gary's plot, the second time was real, though he thankfully lived]] Annie was horrified at what happened and even tearfully apologized to Gary for shunning him and saying he was their friend.

* JerkWithAHeartOfGold: Brooks is a smug, overbearing jerk who tends to belittle and humiliate Max [[spoiler: and turns out to be up to his neck in dodgy dealings]], but he does genuinely love his brother and is willing to go to great lengths to protect him.

''Game Night'' is an 2018 American BlackComedy with some mystery and thriller elements, directed by John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein and written by Mark Perez.

** Subverted between Max and Annie, however; while they frequently get aggressively competitive towards others, their mutual desire to win never seems to cause any bad feeling or create a wedge between the two of them, and in fact appears to be a key driving force of their attraction to each other. While it may help that they're usually on the same team, even when we see them on opposing teams (the night they meet) results in the two of them passionately making out. The one time we see them have anything close to an argument with each other is about something completely unrelated to games.

* MoodWhiplash: In-universe; after being confronted by a {{Mook}} only to then see him sent him flying through a jet plane's turbine engine, Annie initially reacts with gleeful triumph only to suddenly remember that she's just witnessed a man's actual death and that this isn't an appropriate reaction: "Oh no! He died!"

* MoodWhiplash: In-universe; after being confronted by a {{Mook}} only to then see him sent him flying through a jet plane's turbine engine, Annie initially reacts with gleeful triumph only to suddenly remember that she's just witnessed a man's actual death and blurt out "Oh no! He died!"

* MoodWhiplash: In-universe; after being confronted by a {{Mook}} only to then see him sent him flying through a jet plane's turbine engine, Annie initially reacts with gleeful triumph only to suddenly realize that she should be saddened by the loss of life and switches to a very unconvincing lament of "Oh no! He died!"

* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: Crossed egregiously with GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. The revolver went off and shot Max in the arm, despite the hammer sitting uncocked on an empty cartridge because Annie had ''just fired it'', so it wouldn't be able to fire again without the trigger being pulled or the hammer being cocked back first.

* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: Crossed egregiously with GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. The revolver went off and shot Max in the arm, despite the hammer sitting uncocked on an empty cartridge because Annie had ''just fired it''.

* YourCheatingHeart: Michelle's accidental revelation that she slept with a celebrity despite having always been in a relationship with Kevin since they were teens prompts a certain amount of insecurity and sniping from Kevin throughout the film. It's ultimately played with, since it's gradually revealed that they were on a break in their relationship at the time, Kevin had a sexual encounter of his own, and Kevin himself acknowledges that it's not the apparent infidelity he's bothered by, but the fact that she keeps stalling instead of just being honest about it. [[spoiler: In the end, it turns out that the guy just ''looked'' like Denzel Washington and Michelle assumed it was him without actually confirming it. This cheers up Kevin to no end.]]

* {{Adorkable}}: Max and Annie are this trope all over, whether it's their love of games, their endearing middle-class naivete of their predicament or their [[HappilyMarried sincere love and support for one another.]]

** Michael C. Hall as The Bulgarian

** {{Subverted}} later on, when it turns out [[spoiler: the abduction and subsequent chase ''was'' part of the show— Max’s neighbor Gary hijacked Brooks’ game to find his way back into the weekly game night. The thugs are real felons, but Gary convinced them to add some realism to the game, including his own fake death by gunshot.]]

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: A lot of Max's stress stems from the fact that Brooks manages to effortlessly outdo him at everything. [[spoiler: Although it's ultimately subverted, as it turns out that the only reason Brooks manages to constantly win is through cheating, and his absurd wealth is due to VERY illegal activities. He also admits that all his lies about being a stock broker and venture capitalist is due to jealousy that Max actually went to college, has a legitimate job and is HappilyMarried. In Brooks' mind, ''Max'' is Always Someone Better because while his successes are more modest, he came by them honestly and has a much more stable and happy life]].

* BigBrotherBully: Brooks towards Max. He enters the movie by making a big scene of arriving at Max and Annie's house, makes rather patronising comments about Max's life [[BackhandedCompliment disguised as compliments]], upstages, ridicules and humiliates Max in front of all of his friends and undermines him in order to beat him at the games. Annie is vocally disgusted with Brooks' behaviour after he leaves and notes that while she'd previously just assumed that Max's complex about Brooks was just down to standard SiblingRivalry, after spending time with him she can fully see why Max has a problem with him. [[spoiler: It's later revealed to be part of an InferioritySuperiorityComplex; Brooks has lied about all of his achievements and hasn't actually managed to accomplish ''anything'' in his life without lying, cheating or breaking the law to do so, and knows full well that Max is actually the better person of the two of them.]]

* BrainlessBeauty: Ryan is a handsome man who is constantly one step behind the rest of the group. A joke at the end reveals that he's actually a Harvard graduate. He usually brings models as dates to game night who are even dimmer than him. This is averted with Sarah, an intelligent businesswoman whom he brings as a ringer.

** When Max and Annie are talking about Brooks and the stress his success causes Max with Dr. Chen, Dr. Chen asks if Brooks is single. [[spoiler: In the Three Months Later epilogue, she's present at Brooks' game night, and Brooks says that she will be moving in with him once his parole is over.]]

** Brooks' story about young Max's autoerotic misadventure with a bungee cord [[spoiler:pays off when Max uses such a cord to tie the Bulgarian up on the plane, much to Brooks' amusement.]]

* GambitPileup: [[spoiler: Gary's plot to get back into the games night crashes into Brooks' plan to host a murder-mystery alternate-reality game, and the Bulgarian's plan to acquire the witness protection list utterly demolishes both of them.]]

* HypocriticalHumor: The Bulgarian is disgusted at the idea of sifting through Brooks' feces and then says "Now hold still while I cut your stomach open."

* InnocentlyInsensitive: Ryan tends to say blunt and potentially hurtful things in a very innocent way, implicitly because he is too stupid to realize he is causing offense. He makes several insensitive comments about how Sarah is not his type, not realizing that she was attracted to him and thought they were on an actual date. He also bluntly tells her that she is lucky that he brought her to Brooks' game night instead of one of Max and Annie's in front of them, and when Annie naturally takes a certain amount of offense at this innocently adds that he is only saying it because Brooks' night is more fun.

* JugglingLoadedGuns: Max and Annie assume that Brooks' gun is AllPartOfTheShow and deliberately mishandle it for several scenes, believing that it's harmless. Annie even sticks the barrel in her mouth while posing for a photo. Ultimately they give it more respect when Max is accidentally shot by the gun.

** [[spoiler: Brooks']] original kidnappers are this, since they had a deal to have some minor crimes overlooked if they helped out, and they are let go once it's done.

*** Ryan and Sarah find Brooks' wallet, which gives Sarah the idea to call the credit card company and find out the company running the game, [[SequenceBreaking so they can bribe someone there to give them the final clue.]]
*** Max and Annie decide to bypass the game entirely and [[TrackingDevice just track Brooks' phone]] to find him instead.

* SayingTooMuch: During the "Never Have I Ever" drinking game, Michelle absently takes a sip of her drink when Ryan suggests "sleeping with a celebrity" as a category. Everyone notices her action because she's been in a relationship with Kevin since they were teenagers and has apparently never slept with anyone but him.

** Upon arriving at Brooks' huge mansion, Max compares him to Tony Stark and asks if they should give their drink orders to Jarvis.

* SuccessfulSiblingSyndrome: Much of Max's stress stems from being second fiddle to his older brother Brooks. Max has a decent successful life with a beautiful loving wife, but it's peanuts compared to Brooks' jet-setting life as a successful venture capitalist, that nets him enough money to buy (or give away) Max's dream car on a whim. Brooks even beats him every time they play a board, card or party game. [[spoiler: {{Subverted}}; Max learns during the adventure that all of Brooks' gains are ill-gotten and criminal - the secret of his success is to cheat like hell. Brooks actually looks up to Max because even though his life is not as flashy compared to his, he came by it '''honestly'''.]]

** [[spoiler: Gary]] set up a majority of the night's events which included beating up Brooks, assaulting a real actor, emotionally tormenting the others, especially Max and Annie, and Max getting shot. At the end, [[spoiler:he's part of the group again]], with no ill will towards anything they were put through.

* LetsSplitUpGang: After Brooks is taken (with the others still believing nothing has gone wrong) each couple takes a different strategy to find Brooks and win the car:
** Kevin and Michelle are the first to figure out the game's first riddle, so they decide to keep playing the game to find Brooks.
** Ryan and Sarah find Brooks' wallet, which gives Sarah the idea to call the credit card company and find out the company running the game, [[SequenceBreaking so they can bribe someone there to give them the final clue.]]
** Max and Annie decide to bypass the game entirely and [[TrackingDevice just track Brooks' phone]] to find him instead.

** Max and Annie are clearly head-over-heels in love and supportive of each other throughout the movie. There is a wobbly moment when Max reveals that he has a slight case of cold feet over having a child, but it never becomes an issue that strains their marriage and they ultimately work it out.

* HereWeGoAgain: The movie ends with the same group doing a game night, a revelation that Brooks hasn't ''quite'' reformed from his dirty dealing… and a reveal of more masked thugs in a van outside getting their guns ready.

* PullTheThread: Gary's efforts to do this and disprove Max and Annie's (admittedly rather feeble) lies about not continuing to host their games nights border on investigation and interrogation (fittingly, since he's a cop). [[spoiler: This even stems to writing to a corn-chip company to confirm that they don't do three-for-one discount deals.]]