Line #3 Film/GameNight


1	[[quoteright:310:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gamenight.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:310:''[[TagLine This is not a game.]]'']]
3
4	''Game Night'' is an 2018 BlackComedy film (with additional action, crime, mystery and thriller elements) directed by Creator/JohnFrancisDaley and Jonathan Goldstein and written by Mark Perez. The film stars Creator/JasonBateman and Creator/RachelMcAdams, and the supporting cast includes Creator/KyleChandler, Creator/BillyMagnussen, Creator/SharonHorgan, Creator/LamorneMorris, Creator/KylieBunbury, Creator/JessePlemons, Creator/MichaelCHall and Creator/JeffreyWright.
5
6	Max Davis (Bateman) and his wife Annie ([=McAdams=]) are a HappilyMarried suburban couple with a mutual love of competition, which has led them to host a long-standing game night with other couples at their home. Unfortunately, Max and Annie are [[LawOfInverseFertility having trouble conceiving]], which their doctor attributes to stress, due in no small part to the sudden arrival in town of Max's [[BigBrotherBully overbearing]], [[AlwaysSomeoneBetter one-upping]] brother Brooks (Chandler). Brooks crashes game night and invites his brother's group over to his own house the following week for a game night that he promises will "raise the stakes." Annie encourages Max to attend and beat Brooks at his own game, as a means of getting over his mental block.
7
8	When the big night arrives, Brooks reveals that the game is going to be a murder mystery. As armed men barge in and drag Brooks away, Max and his friends initially think it's AllPartOfTheShow; turns out it's a very real abduction, and Max will have to solve the mystery fast if he doesn't want it to turn into a murder.
9	----
10	!!''Game Night'' provides examples of:
11	* AffablyEvil: The Bulgarian does have a long list of crimes including murder, torture, and human trafficking, but he's very polite when confronting the players and seems willing to let them walk away unharmed, until [[spoiler:Brooks [[EatTheEvidence eats the]] MacGuffin. Even then, he only kidnaps Brooks and leaves the rest alone. He also neutralizes Gary (an armed police officer) by simply shooting him in the shoulder and knocking him out instead of killing him.]]
12	* AllForNothing: Annie gets an armful of supplies and logs onto a RightWingMilitiaFanatic website to figure out how to take the bullet out of Max's arm, and ends up cutting him all the way to the bone, whereupon they come across ''the exit wound''... meaning that the bullet had already come back out.
13	* AllPartOfTheShow: The movie runs absolutely wild with this trope, PlayingWith it several different ways:
14	** Initially played straight: An "FBI agent" enters the house and sets up the mystery, when two very real armed thugs burst in and attack both him and Brooks before abducting the latter. These thugs aren't the mystery company's actors, but Max and the rest of the party guests assume they are and that the abduction is scripted.
15	** {{Inverted\|Trope}} when the fake kidnappers arrive, brandishing prop guns. They're initially mistaken for real assailants but quickly break character when they realize something has gone awry. When Max and Annie rescue Brooks and find out the gun was real, they finally realize that it was not a game. This marks a turning point in the story where they don't dismiss what is going on.
16	** {{Subverted\|Trope}} later on, when it turns out [[spoiler:the abduction and subsequent chase ''was'' part of the show — Max's neighbor Gary hijacked Brooks's game to find his way back into the weekly game night. The thugs are real felons, but Gary hired them to add some realism to the game, including his own fake death by gunshot, in exchange for their parole time being reduced.]]
17	** ''Then'' it's DoubleSubverted: [[spoiler:Gary actually didn't know anything about the MacGuffin that Brooks cheated The Bulgarian out of; when he shows up and shoots Gary, the players initially assume it's yet another plot twist. It isn't, and The Bulgarian kidnaps Brooks for real.]]
18	** Finally {{parodied\|Trope}} by the film's end: [[spoiler:Max declares that he's ready to have kids with Annie and accept the responsibility of being a father, to which Brooks leans in and tells them that he engineered the ''entire night's events,'' including millions of dollars' worth of property damage and at least one death, to teach his brother the lessons he needed to learn. As Annie and Max stare in shocked silence, Brooks tells the unconscious Bulgarian to get up and break character; he doesn't, and Brooks admits after a {{beat}} that he's [[ItAmusedMe just fucking with his brother]].]]
19	* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: A lot of Max's stress stems from the fact that Brooks manages to effortlessly outdo him at everything. [[spoiler:However, 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 were due to jealousy that Max actually went to college, has a legitimate job and is HappilyMarried. In Brooks's mind, ''Max'' is actually Always Someone Better because while his successes are more modest, he came by them honestly and has a much more stable and happy life]].
20	* ApatheticCitizens: When Annie is trying to remove the bullet from Max's arm while in an alleyway, a random pedestrian walks by, stops briefly to look at them, and moves on, mostly weirded out by them if anything.
21	* BackhandedCompliment: Our first introduction to Brooks involves him giving various compliments about Max's life and home in a slightly condescending and dismissive tone.
22	* TheBadGuysAreCops:
23	** Brooks tells Max that the Bulgarian is said to have moles in the police force, so the protagonists don’t dare go to the cops for help. If that wasn't the case, Max and company's part of the action probably would have ended halfway through the movie.
24	** Technically speaking, the "bad guy" throughout much of the movie ''is'' a cop, [[spoiler:since Gary, a police officer, turns out to have masterminded most of the events of the film to try and get back into the game night. Although this one's downplayed, since Gary is otherwise a decent man who's just a little too fixated on being part of the game night.]]
25	* 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's 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.]]
26	* BloodyHilarious: After Max is shot in the arm, there are two major cases -- first when Annie tries removing the bullet (and only when she touches his bone does she notice the exit wound!), and then when [[spoiler:the bleeding gash ends up dripping on Gary's dog, to which Max's efforts to clean up the mess result in the blood getting all over the dog and all over the room]].
27	* BookEnds:
28	** The opening montage includes Max and Annie meeting at a game night and smiling broadly into the camera at each other. Max then proposes to Ann through a game of ''Charades''. In the end, [[spoiler:Annie reveals that she's pregnant through a game of ''Pictionary'', and her and Max smile broadly at each other into the camera]].
29	** Music/{{Queen}} songs play prominently in the opening and closing scenes; the former uses "Don't Stop Me Now", and the latter uses "We Are the Champions".
30	* 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 he is. This is averted with Sarah, an intelligent businesswoman whom he brings as a ringer.
31	* BrickJoke:
32	** 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's game night, and Brooks says that she will be moving in with him once his parole is over.]]
33	** In Gary's initial interaction with Max and Annie, he spots that Gary is carrying three bags of Tostitos Scoops from the store, which seems to go against their insistence that they're not having a game night. Max claims there was a 3-for-1 deal on them, to which Gary asks, "How can that be profitable for Frito-Lay?" [[spoiler:His StringTheory display in the end credits includes a reply to an inquiry he had sent to Frito-Lay which confirms that Tostitos Scoops DO NOT come 3-for-1.]]
34	** When the kidnapper calls, Ryan is scared because he sounds like a monster. [[spoiler:The credits show that the voice changer Gary used has a "monster" option.]]
35	** When undermining Max during the charades game at the beginning, Brooks tells the story of how Max was once caught trying to fellate himself with the help of a bungee cord. At the end, [[spoiler:Brooks is amused to see Max tying up the Bulgarian with a bungee cord in a way that looks a lot like self-fellation]].
36	--->'''Brooks:''' Whoa. Well, look at that. [[spoiler:Put a bungee cord in your hand, you go straight to the pervy place, don't ya?]]
37	* BrokenPedestal: Of a sort, at least. While Max resents Brooks, he also envies his high-flying cool lifestyle and Annie accuses him of resisting starting a family because of this. However, it's eventually exposed throughout the movie that [[spoiler:Brooks is nothing but a crook who only has the trappings of success through cheating and dishonest dealing. Realising this doesn't so much cause Max disillusionment, however, as much as it simply helps him realise that ultimately Brooks is just a "loser" and he doesn't need to measure himself against him.]]
38	* TheCameo:
39	** An uncredited Creator/JeffreyWright is the fake FBI Agent who gives the group their "dossiers" at the start of the game night.
40	** Creator/MichaelCHall as The Bulgarian.
41	** Creator/ChelseaPeretti plays the head of the acting agency that stages the roleplay games.
42	* CannotTellFictionFromReality: The players are specifically told by Brooks that they're not going to know what's real and what's fake in the mystery game. Right after telling them that, Brooks gets kidnapped right under their eyes, and they consider that kidnapping as part of the game.
43	* CarHoodSliding: Gary pulls this off with his police car in the climax, albeit somewhat sloppily. [[spoiler:His StringTheory display in the credits includes a computer playing a compilation of footage he recorded of himself practicing the slide, [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome with each attempt resulting in failure]] (from him either overshooting or undershooting).]]
44	* CelebrityParadox: The Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse exists in this film's world, since ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008'' is mentioned, along with the two actors who have played Bruce Banner/Hulk in the universe (Creator/MarkRuffalo and Creator/EdwardNorton). Creator/RachelMcAdams plays Christine Palmer, [[Film/DoctorStrange2016 Doctor Strange]]'s LoveInterest in the MCU.
45	* ChekhovsGag:
46	** At the first game night, Ryan seems oddly obsessed with a random internet rumor that the wealthy elite hire poor people to engage in FightClubbing so they can bet on the outcome. [[spoiler:When they go to steal a valuable item from a mansion, they end up seeing an underground fighting party, and Ryan is elated at being proven right.]]
47	** Max mentions wanting to "get the drop" on the Bulgarian through the top exit in the plane, but his entrance is uncoordinated and sloppy, so he gets seen. Annie later drops a fire extinguisher on the Bulgarian's head to knock him out and says, "Now ''that's'' how you get the drop on someone."
48	** Brooks's 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's amusement]].
49	* ChekhovsSkill: Max and Annie have to communicate through charades in the climax. Like nearly everything else in the movie, it's {{lampshade\|Hanging}}d.
50	-->'''Max:''' ''(exasperated)'' Charades. That's some cute full-circle bullshit.
51	* TheChessmaster: If the closing credits are to be believed, [[spoiler:Gary knows about more than he lets on, including the Bulgarian.]]
52	* ChinaTakesOverTheWorld: The idea gets name-dropped briefly and PlayedForLaughs. Around the end of the film, [[spoiler:Max comes around to the idea of starting a family with Annie. Among the various attributes they plan to give their child to ensure their dominance over other children, they agree to immediately start teaching them Mandarin, "'cause China's the future."]]
53	* ComicallySmallBribe: Ryan tries bribing the "Murder We Wrote" employee to let them hopscotch to the final clue, which starts with him dramatically placing down $10, then upping it with another five and eventually a couple of ones. The employee is unimpressed, expecting at least $100, and Ryan confesses that was all the cash he had on him. Sarah has to toss out a $100 bill, and Ryan is upset when the employee takes it ''and'' his $17.
54	* CompensatingForSomething: Annie tries to imply this about Brooks when she and Max drive up to his ridiculously large mansion. Subverted when Max responds that he's actually seen his junk and it's fairly impressive.
55	-->'''Annie:''' Oh. Well, I tried.
56	* CompetitionFreak: Both Max and Annie get ''very'' competitive, to the point that their mutual competitiveness was part of what attracted them to each other. Brooks is also very competitive, but tends to take a more subtle and underhanded approach to it; as Annie notes at the beginning, everything he did on arriving at the first games night was intended to throw Max off-balance so that he could win. [[spoiler:And it's later revealed that the only way Brooks could ever beat Max was by cheating.]]
57	* ConcealingCanvas: In one scene that takes place in a ''Fight Club'' setting in a basement, there is a safe containing a large amount of money hidden behind a sliding painting.
58	* ContrivedCoincidence: [[spoiler:Gary's fake kidnapping plot happens to target Brooks, a man who's in the smuggling business and ''does'' have to worry about being kidnapped, at the same time Brooks arranges to be "kidnapped" as part of a mystery game.]]
59	* ConversationalTroping: The characters are well aware of pop culture and often point out the cliches they are engaged with.
60	* CrazyEnoughToWork: Max's idea to [[spoiler:crash Brooks's Stingray into the wheels of the Bulgarian's plane]] in the climax. He even identifies it as such when he pitches it to Annie, and [[spoiler:it does work]].
61	-->'''Max''': I have one idea. It's so crazy, though, baby, it just might work.\
62	'''Annie''': You're gonna [[spoiler:crash the car into the plane like Creator/LiamNeeson in ''[[Film/{{Taken}} Taken 3]]'']]?\
63	'''Max''': [[spoiler:He did that in ''Taken 3'', huh?]]
64	* CreativeClosingCredits: The film's credits feature [[spoiler:a StringTheory set up by Gary in his basement, showcasing his meticulously detailed plan to insert himself back into game night]].
65	* DeathAsComedy: The henchman who ends up in a TurbineBlender.
66	-->'''Annie:''' YES!...Oh, no, he died!
67	* DiggingYourselfDeeper: [[spoiler:After double crossing the Bulgarian in order to get more money, Brooks ends up torching Max's efforts to negotiate for the group's freedom. Max offers to give the Bulgarian the [=WitSec=] list Brooks cheated them out of completely free of charge, but Brooks decides to swallow it whole in a desperate effort to buy more time. The kicker in all of this is the Bulgarian was implied to have been willing to take them up on the offer too.]]
68	* DisasterDominoes: Max bleeds on Gary's floor, then Sebastian starts licking up the blood, then Max bleeds on Sebastian, then he tries to clean Sebastian up and only succeeds in spreading the blood around more, then Sebastian shakes himself to dry off and sprays blood all over Gary's shrine to Debbie.
69	* DoNotTouchTheFunnelCloud: Invoked in principle - the henchman holding Annie at gunpoint is only ten feet closer to the jet turbine when it starts up, which is somehow enough for her to be just fine while he's sucked right in.
70	* DumbassHasAPoint: Ryan is right about [[spoiler:the Faberge egg being on the same floor of the mansion as the FightClubbing]]. He even mutters about finally being right about something.
71	* DynamicEntry: In the plane in the climax, Max decides to surprise the bad guy by dropping in from an overhead hatch. While he does initially get the upper hand, it was far more complicated than needed as the bad guy could [[WithCatlikeTread hear him moving above]] them and watched as the hatch opened up. Annie later does one herself to rescue him, saying "''That's'' how you get the drop on someone."
72	* EpicTrackingShot: The group ends up having to steal [[spoiler:a valuable Faberge egg]] from a wealthy home, and spend several minutes tossing it to each other while avoiding security on both the first and second floor, all done to at least resemble [[TheOner one continuous shot]] (various {{Whip Pan}}s and other visual effects hide the edits).
73	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Immediately after meeting them, we've got a sense of Max and Annie as {{Competition Freak}}s. Max amiably offers to buy shots for everyone in the current bar-quiz competition only to instruct the bartender to send water to his team and vodka to his opponents, meanwhile, we see Annie berating her team for not taking things seriously:
74	-->'''Annie:''' This is getting embarrassing, so we need to focus because this isn't a game.\
75	'''Teammate:''' It ''literally'' is.\
76	'''Annie:''' Bill, do ''not'' test me right now.
77	* EveryoneHasStandards:
78	** Annie initially isn't very fond of Brooks, given that [[SiblingRivalry Brooks constantly undermines Max at practically any opportunity]], and she blames the stress Max experiences from Brooks for 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, she fully dedicates herself to save him.
79	** The same can be said about Annie in regards to Gary. Moments after his introduction, when Max asks why they don't invite him to game nights, Annie says that Gary's ex-wife Debbie was their friend, while Gary was just the "[[NoSocialSkills creepy]] husband that [[TheFriendNobodyLikes we had to put up with]]". [[spoiler:After Gary gets shot (the first time, through the chest, being part of his plot, and the second time, through the shoulder, being real)]], Annie is horrified. Alongside Max, she [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone tearfully apologizes to Gary for shunning him]], objects when he says he doesn't have any friends and that they don't like spending time with him, and admits to being selfish.
80	* EvilIsCool: Invoked in-universe; Brooks is charming, manipulative and unscrupulous [[spoiler:even before we learn he's a crook]], lives in a massive mansion, and all of Max's friends seem in awe of him. [[spoiler:Ultimately deconstructed, since Brooks hasn't accomplished anything without lying or cheating to get it and deep down knows that his seemingly awesome life is completely hollow, he's ultimately just a total loser, and Max -- the 'boring' brother who nevertheless has honestly earned everything he has -- is the better man.]]
81	* FailedAttemptAtDrama: Ryan tries to overcompensate for his ComicallySmallBribe to the "Murder We Wrote" employee by sliding each bill slowly across the table. When it gets to the point that he's sliding a dollar bill over a table at a painfully slow speed, Sarah finally bursts out that it doesn't matter ''how'' slowly he passes it over -- it's the pathetic amount of money that's the problem.
82	* FamilyOfChoice: Towards the end, Max and Annie give their friends a chance to walk away from the matter, citing that it's a family affair and there's no reason for them to risk their lives for Max's brother. Their friends retort that they're all family and they're in this together.
83	* FightClubbing: Ryan insists, to ridicule from his friends, that this is a secret pastime of the ultra-wealthy. [[spoiler:It turns out that he's absolutely correct.]]
84	* FireForgedFriends: Sarah to the rest of the group. She was just Ryan's date (and he wasn't really interested and she lost interest the more time she spent with him), but when given a chance to leave, she decides to stay. And three months later she is still part of their game group.
85	* FishOutOfWater: On a meta level, the crux of the movie's humour revolves around a group of middle-class suburban types bumbling into a gritty crime thriller.
86	* {{Foreshadowing}}: When confronted with the home intruders, Brooks puts up a surprisingly good fight for a man who claims to be a white collar financier. [[spoiler:It's a hint that he's actually less "financier" and more "criminal".]]
87	* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Gary was apparently this to the game group, as they quickly found a reason to drop him after his wife left him.
88	* FurnitureBlockade: Ryan traps Kevin and Michelle in a room in Brooks's mansion by pushing a large table in front of the door, "just to be a dick".
89	* GagNose: [[spoiler:"Not Denzel"]] is shown to have an absolutely giant nose.
90	* GambitPileup: [[spoiler:Gary's plot to get back into the games night crashes into Brooks's 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.]]
91	* GameNightFight: Naturally, a constant occurrence as the competitive Max and Annie take their game nights very, very seriously. It gets very dramatic quickly when Max's brother Brooks appears to get kidnapped for real during their followup game night, and a lot of conflict ensues as they try to get him back.
92	** 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 the few times we see them directly competing (such as the night they meet, when they are on opposing pub quiz teams) results in them either experiencing intense attraction to each other (the result of the former, for example, is the two of them passionately making out), or at least clearly still having fun. The one time we see them have anything close to an argument with each other is about something completely unrelated to games.
93	* GeniusDitz:
94	** Ryan is an absolute moron but apparently is a Harvard graduate.
95	** Annie is an intelligent woman who is great at game night and makes substantial contributions to the group's success throughout the evening, but she does have moments where she makes some ditzy mistakes and misconceptions, such as when Brooks says they can't go to the cops because the Bulgarian has got "a ton of [[TheMole moles]]" and she questions back, "On his face?!", or when she orders a vodka tonic when she's supposed to be ordering a drink with complicated ingredients.
96	* GoshDangItToHeck: Gary is averse to foul language, as shown at one point when Max tells him to "stop fucking with us", and he replies that he's "not ''fudging'' with you".
97	* HappilyMarried:
98	** 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 beyond some mildly wounded feelings and sarcastic comments, and they ultimately work it out.
99	** For that matter, while Kevin and Michelle have more tension throughout the film ultimately they're this as well. [[spoiler:Kevin acknowledges that while he is kind of jealous of Michelle's fling, he also played away during their brief separation and ultimately just wants her to be honest with him. Tellingly, when he discovers that the guy she had a fling with ''wasn't'' Denzel Washington, he is more amused by her mistake than anything else.]]
100	* HasAType: Ryan apparently has such a specific type that Annie mistakes one girl for a different one from the previous week.
101	* HereWeGoAgain: The movie ends with the same group doing a game night, a revelation that Brooks hasn't ''quite'' reformed from his dirty dealing... [[spoiler:and a reveal of more masked thugs in a van outside getting their guns ready]].
102	* HighlyVisiblePassword: The password field on Gary's computer does not mask the characters of the password the way nearly any such password field actually would in real life, to make it easier for the audience to see that Gary used the name of his ex-wife as the password.
103	* HollywoodBoardGames: Annie and Max prefer to communicate by means of ''Pictionary'' games, as playing BoardGames is a pastime they both enjoy and find relaxing. Sometimes, it's for important matters -- Max proposes to her by drawing a ring and [[spoiler:Annie reveals to him that she's pregnant by drawing a "bun in the oven"]]. Other times, it's more casual things, such as Gary's InUniverse TearJerker reaction to ''Film/TheGreenMile''.
104	* HypocriticalHumor: [[spoiler:After Brooks swallows the WITSEC list and gets captured by the Bulgarian]], the Bulgarian is disgusted at the idea of [[spoiler:sifting through Brooks's feces for the list]] and then says, [[spoiler:"Now hold still while I cut your stomach open."]]
105	* IHaveAFamily: Annie tries to get out of being shot by claiming she has children.
106	-->'''Henchman:''' Not with that ass, you don't.\
107	'''Annie:''' ...oh. Well... thank you?
108	* IToldYouSo: When Brooks suggests they play a drinking game before the murder mystery game starts, Max gets a bit stand-offish and refuses to play, pointing out that they never play drinking games. Over the course of the game, Michelle inadvertently reveals a possible infidelity she committed, prompting an argument with Kevin. Max takes a certain amount of satisfaction in pointing out that ''this'' is why they don't play drinking games.
109	* IdenticalStranger: Turns out that the celebrity Michelle slept with was [[spoiler:actually a man who looks like Creator/DenzelWashington.]]
110	* InformedAttractiveness: Characters state several times that Brooks is more handsome than Max.
111	* 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's 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's night is more fun.
112	* JerkassHasAPoint: Max and Annie excluding Gary from the games night doesn't exactly reflect well on them, but at the same time it's not hard to see why they might find socialising with him a bit of a burden.
113	* 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.]] Downplayed with Annie, however. While she's never outright mean or rude to anyone, she's insanely competitive and intense during games and can be rather derisive about people she doesn't care for behind their backs, (though that only extends towards Brooks and Gary). However, Annie is ultimately a loving and supportive wife to Max and an excellent and protective friend. At the end of the movie, she even befriends Gary and Brooks.
114	* JugglingLoadedGuns: Max and Annie assume that Brooks's 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.
115	* JumpScare:
116	** Ryan's first date Madison reaching through Max and Annie's window plays out this way, even receiving a horror-style setup of the two slowly approaching the window as they hear strange noises coming from behind.
117	** Max gets startled by Brooks walking in his direction with a large knife pointing at him (complete with ScareChord), which he says he's simply using to cut butter.
118	--->'''Max''': Really aggressive way to carry a knife.
119	** Ryan and Sarah get spooked by the "Murder We Wrote" employee, who's asleep when they find her, suddenly awakening in her chair with a scream, which sets off a ReactiveContinuousScream.
120	* KarmaHoudini:
121	** [[spoiler:Brooks]] ends up with three years of house arrest when all is said and done, which is an awfully light price to pay for his illegal activities, especially after he reveals that he sold the [=WitSec=] list on the black market for $3 million. And then tipped the witnesses off, so they wouldn't be in any danger... for $20,000 each.
122	** [[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. In fairness, though, [[spoiler:he did get shot for real and severely injured shortly after his actions were revealed. Not only that, but all of his marital souvenirs ended up being covered in blood.]] Maybe they figured that was punishment enough.
123	** [[spoiler:Brooks's]] 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 (although they do get bruised quite a bit).
124	* LetsSplitUpGang:
125	** 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:
126	*** 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.
127	*** Ryan and Sarah find Brooks's 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]].
128	*** Max and Annie decide to bypass the game entirely and [[TrackingDevice just track Brooks's phone]] to find him instead.
129	** They split up again in Anderton's house to look for the egg, although Ryan stays right where he is because he wants to watch the fight club. [[spoiler:He ends up finding the egg.]]
130	* LickedByTheDog: Gary constantly behaves in a creepy manner, but one of his first scenes also shows his pet dog licking his face, and he does turn out to be more of a JerkassWoobie.
131	* MacGuffin: The plot is triggered by Max's brother Brooks screwing a notorious crime lord known only as The Bulgarian out of a very expensive Faberge egg. When Brooks is kidnapped, Max sets out to recover the egg in exchange for his brother's life. [[spoiler:The egg itself is actually a worthless fake. The real MacGuffin is hidden inside: a list of names and addresses of people in the Federal Witness Protection Program. Going further, the MacGuffin was actually an accident, since Gary set up the kidnapping with an extreme but mostly controlled situation for a completely different purpose, Brooks assumed the egg was the reason and their theft of the egg is what ended up inciting The Bulgarian to actually get involved.]]
132	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Downplayed.
133	** When Max is shot in the arm by a dropped gun, he reacts with a degree of shock and surprise but not exactly the extreme pain you would expect. He shows far more pain when Annie tries removing the bullet, which turned out to be pointless because there was an exit wound and thus no bullet to remove. She still ends up tapping on his ''exposed bone'' and their reaction is more curiosity than anything else, although both had trouble with [[VomitDiscretionShot keeping their constitution]].
134	** In the climax, Max gets a knife thrown in his arm, making him drop his gun, and he comments more in anger that it landed right in his already existing bullet hole, and he proceeds to still have an extended scuffle with little discomfort.
135	* MeetCute:
136	** The movie opens with Max and Annie meeting at a bar trivia contest, the leaders of their respective teams, and answering [[BirdsOfAFeather the same question at the same time]]. It even gives a close-up of their faces as they meet eyes and get flustered. A quick montage shows them playing other games and eventually Max proposing to Annie via a charades game, with the title appearing at their wedding (with ''VideoGame/DanceDanceRevolution'' behind them). It is [[BookEnds bookended]] with [[spoiler:Annie doing a ''Pictionary'' game outlining "bun in the oven" as her way of telling Max she's pregnant. It even gives a similar close-up of their faces as they smile at each other]].
137	** The post-credits scene also involves [[spoiler:Kevin, the guy Michelle mistook for Denzel Washington, and Gary's ex-wife Debbie]] having one of these.
138	* MistakenNationality: Ryan seems to have serious difficulty getting his head around the fact that Sarah is Irish, not British. This is entirely a case of Ryan being an idiot rather than Sarah's nationality actually being ambiguous - she clarifies that she is Irish, speaks with an Irish accent (actress Sharon Horgan's own) and we even see her passport at the end.
139	* MoodWhiplash: In-universe; after being confronted by a {{Mook\|s}} 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 horrible death and that this isn't an appropriate reaction.
140	-->"Oh, no! He died!"
141	* NoSocialSkills: Gary has a very stoic, unblinking and unemotive way of acting that unsettles pretty much everyone.
142	* OffTheRails: Early in the actual playing of the game, only Kevin and Michelle try playing the game as it was intended. Max and Annie try following Brooks by the GPS in his phone, while Ryan and Sarah track down the gaming company that put it together to bribe them to reveal the final solution. It is safe to say that the game proceeds to go far, FAR more off the rails than anyone expected.
143	* OneCrazyNight: The characters' game night goes awry when their murder mystery theme suddenly turns very real and they have to run to solve it.
144	* TheOner: [[spoiler:The characters being chased by security around the mansion with the Faberge egg, which they throw between each other like a football,]] is filmed and cut to appear as one continuous shot (the actual edits are hidden by {{Whip Pan}}s and other visual effects).
145	* OneThingLedToAnother: Michelle describes the night that ended with her hooking up with [[spoiler:who she thought was Creator/DenzelWashington]] this way to Kevin.
146	-->"He was really nice. He made some joke about how premium gas is probably the same as regular. I took a chance, and I asked him if he wanted to get drinks. He said yes. We both got a little tipsy. I offered to pay for drinks, and he let me, which I thought was pretty cool. We danced for hours. Eventually, we ended up back at his place, and one thing led to another."
147	* ThePasswordIsAlwaysSwordfish: While trying to hack Gary's computer, Max barely needs to pause for thought before guessing that his password is the name of his ex-wife, not least because he's in a room adorned with souvenirs from their wedding.
148	* PerpetualFrowner: Gary is like this, with a personality to match, which is a major reason why the group stopped inviting him to game night.
149	* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure:
150	** Nobody but Max remembers that Creator/EdwardNorton played [[Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008 Bruce Banner/Hulk]] until he reminds them.
151	** Brooks catches Max's [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] reference but invokes this trope and pretends to have no idea who Jarvis is when Max continues the gag, so he can dismiss him as a nerd.
152	* 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). This even leads to him writing Frito-Lay to confirm that they don't do three-for-one discount deals.
153	* PragmaticVillainy: The Bulgarian [[spoiler: doesn't kill anyone he doesn't need to. He neutralizes Gary (an armed police officer) via a shoulder shot and a knockout, and is perfectly willing to let everyone except Brooks go once he gets the [=WitSec=] list, since none of them were trying to screw him over. [[RuleOfFunny This makes it all the funnier when]] he decides that he would rather ''cut Brooks open inside a small jet during takeoff and dig through his guts'' rather than have to dissect his poop]].
154	* ProtagonistCenteredMorality: PlayedForLaughs when an unfortunate henchman who was threatening Annie gets sucked into a jet turbine. She cheers at first, but then immediately backpedals with very unconvincing grief when she remembers [[AndThatsTerrible she's not supposed to cheer people's deaths]].
155	* ReactiveContinuousScream: A brief one occurs between Ryan, Sarah and the "Murder We Wrote" employee after the employee [[JumpScare suddenly]] wakes up in her chair, startling them.
156	* RecklessGunUsage: Annie ends up in possession of Brooks's ankle gun, a snubnose revolver. She thinks it's a fake gun that's AllPartOfTheShow, and spends half the film playing with it like a toy, even putting the barrel in her mouth for a selfie. When she hands it off to Max, he doesn't even bother holding it remotely properly, instead palming it sideways. When Brooks tells her it's a real gun, she does a test fire, and it goes off and shatters a light. She then immediately drops it, leading to it shooting Max in the arm once it hits the floor.
157	* ReliablyUnreliableGuns: Overlaps with GunsDoNotWorkThatWay. Annie drops Brooks' revolver after accidentally firing it, at which point it shoots Max in the arm when it hits the floor. This occurs despite the hammer sitting uncocked on an empty cartridge because Annie had ''just fired it'', meaning it wouldn't be able to fire again without the trigger being pulled or the hammer being cocked back first.
158	* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: Annie finds instructions on how to remove a bullet on an alt-right militia website, and mentions having to look past "the racist stuff" in order to follow the steps.
159	* RunningGag: Early on, Kevin is surprised that Brooks's glass table doesn't break when he is thrown onto it. Later, when Ryan tackles a man onto another glass table that doesn't break, he comments, "Glass tables are acting weird tonight!"
160	* RuthlessForeignGangsters: [[TheDreaded The Bulgarian]], who is said to have a hand in everything from heroin trafficking to sex slavery. [[spoiler:{{Subverted\|Trope}}; he's played by the very American Michael C. Hall with no accent, Slavic or otherwise.]]
161	* 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 they had supposedly never slept with anyone but each other.
162	* SeriousBusiness: Games, for pretty much everyone involved.
163	** Our EstablishingCharacterMoment for both Max and Annie involves them getting hyper-competitive at a quiz night and attracted to each other by this, before a montage developing their relationship through mutual intensity with gaming.
164	** Gary is so determined to find a way back into the game nights he's been dropped from after his divorce from Debbie that he [[spoiler:hijacks Brook's murder mystery to make it seem like a real kidnapping takes place]], just to prove that he's cool enough to be in the games.
165	* SkewedPriorities: At one point, when Brooks admits that he used to cheat against Max during their childhood games, Annie furiously starts berating him. Keep in mind that they're all being ''held at gunpoint'' at the time.
166	* ShoutOut: There are [[ReferenceOverdosed tons of them]].
167	** As the film revolves around games, many of them trivia-based, there are ''lots'' of references made during game-playing scenes.
168	*** The name of the purple [[Series/{{Teletubbies}} Teletubby]] (Tinky Winky) is a prompt answered by Max and Annie at the exact same time, which leads to their MeetCute.
169	*** ''[[Literature/BreakingDawn Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn]]'', ''Film/TheCryingGame'', and ''Film/BoysDontCry'' get name-dropped as guesses.
170	*** Music/MarilynManson ("shock-rocker, dated Creator/RoseMcGowan"), Creator/SkeetUlrich ("poor man's Creator/JohnnyDepp, starred in ''[[Series/Jericho2006 Jericho]]''"), Creator/SamNeill ("he hated kids in ''Film/JurassicPark''"), Music/{{Skrillex}} ("dubstep DJ, looks like Creator/CoreyFeldman"), and [[Creator/PabloPicasso Picasso]] ("rappers love this cubist painter") all appear as guessing prompts. Brooks uses the long-circulated myth that Marilyn Manson had ribs removed so he could fellate himself to tell the story of Max getting caught trying to do the same as a teenager.
171	*** When trying to get his team to guess Creator/EdwardNorton, Max references ''Film/PrimalFear'' and his ''[[Film/TheIncredibleHulk2008 Incredible Hulk]]'' film, but his team guesses all the ''other'' Hulk actors from films and TV series instead of that one (Creator/EricBana, Creator/MarkRuffalo, Creator/LouFerrigno). He first identifies him to Annie as "the famous actor that we met at the airport about eight years ago", to which she guesses Bobby Flay.
172	*** Ryan is shown walking out of a game saying that he can't believe he didn't get Creator/BobBarker.
173	** The company that sets up Brooks's murder mystery is called [[Series/MurderSheWrote "Murder We Wrote"]].
174	** Max complains that Annie has the advantage in paper football since she has smaller hands to form goalposts, to which Annie says, "Well, I guess you should've married Creator/UmaThurman."
175	** Dr. Chin mentions [[Literature/TheBible Cain and Abel]] and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_family the Baldwins]] as examples of how serious SiblingRivalry can be.
176	** When Max and Annie's friends start entering their house through their windows, misinterpreting Max's request to "sneak in", Annie remarks, "It's like ''[[Film/NightOfTheLivingDead1968 Night of the Living Dead]]'' in here."
177	** In gushing about Brooks, Ryan calls him "the Creator/MarkWahlberg to Max's [[Creator/DonnieWahlberg Donnie]]". Annie tries to flip it into a compliment by saying that Donnie was great in ''Film/TheSixthSense'', although it's questioned if he was actually in the film (he was).
178	** Upon arriving at Brooks's huge mansion, Max compares him to [[ComicBook/IronMan Tony Stark]] and asks if they should give their drink orders to JARVIS.
179	** After kicking the (legitimately) downed Agent Henderson and finding that he's still not getting up, Ryan is impressed and calls him "a regular Creator/DanielDayLewis".
180	** Michelle inadvertently reveals to Kevin that she once slept with a celebrity, and a majority of their interactions throughout the film are marked by Kevin not being able to move past that, at one point saying that he's "been living in [[Film/TheMatrix the Matrix]]." She ultimately tells him that the celebrity was [[spoiler:Creator/DenzelWashington, to which Kevin reacts in disbelief and promptly finds out that it was merely a man who looked like him. Kevin then starts doing a Denzel impression which ends with him saying, [[Film/TrainingDay "The real Denzel ain't got SHIT on me!"]]]]
181	*** After Ryan locks Kevin and Michelle in a room in Brooks's mansion, Kevin plans to burn down the door with matches. When Michelle points out the stupidity of lighting a fire in a windowless room that they're trapped in, Kevin, still frustrated from the above reveal, snarks that the celebrity must've been Series/BillNyeTheScienceGuy for her to know so much about fire.
182	*** While trying to break out through the ceiling, Kevin tries to guess who the celebrity was. Upon Michelle saying that he was over 40 and American, he lands on Creator/TommyLeeJones ("ew, no") and Creator/DenzelWashington ("it wasn't, unfortunately"). Shortly after, he puts on a Denzel impression and references a line from ''Film/TheHurricane'': "Hate put us in here, but love's gonna bust us out."
183	** Annie does an over-the-top stick-up at a bar while quoting Honey Bunny's line from ''Film/PulpFiction'', which Max identifies by name.
184	** When Brooks tries explaining to Max and Annie that [[spoiler:he's not who he's claimed to be and they're in actual danger]], him bringing up the Bulgarian's egg prompts Max to remark, "'The Bulgarian's egg'? Wasn't that the third ''Literature/HarryPotter'' book?"
185	** When Annie complains that her phone's screen keeps turning off while she's trying to read the instructions to remove Max's bullet, he advises that she go into her settings and change the timing to prevent her phone from entering sleep mode. This level of detail just annoys Annie, and she replies, "What are you, UsefulNotes/SteveJobs?"
186	** Ryan incorrectly refers to Marlon Freeman, the alias of [[spoiler:Donald Anderton]], as Creator/MorganFreeman and [[Creator/TheWayansFamily Marlon Wayans]].
187	** Kevin calls [[spoiler:the fight club at the mansion]] "some ''Film/DjangoUnchained'' bullshit" and "''[[Film/EyesWideShut Eyes Wide]]'' ''Film/FightClub''".
188	** Max describes his reluctance to settle down with Annie using ''VideoGame/PacMan'' as a metaphor. He says that when they used to play the game together, they stayed alive by eating the pellets and avoiding the fruit (since "that's how they [the ghosts] get you"), but neither of them ever made it on the leaderboard. Annie disappointedly deduces that Max believes that them starting a family will permanently bar him from "the leaderboard of life", and notes that Brooks is AlwaysSomeoneBetter to him because he's always "gone for the fruit", which is why "the ghosts" [[spoiler:(the criminals after Brooks)]] are going to "eat" [[spoiler:(kill)]] him. [[spoiler:Once they start getting into the dangerous chases of the climax, Annie sarcastically asks if that's the "fruit" of their relationship Max had in mind. Come the end of the film, his "fruit" becomes starting a family.]] During the first of these scenes, Annie also notes that she would crush Max in ''VideoGame/{{Galaga}}''.
189	** [[spoiler:In confessing to Max that he cheated his way to success, Brooks admits that he had Max sit in a specific spot while they played ''TabletopGame/{{Battleship}}'' as kids so he could see his ships. He then says, "I cheated at the TabletopGame/GameOfLife, ''and'' at the game of life."]]
190	** [[spoiler:When racing Brooks's Stingray to the Bulgarian's plane in the climax, Max says that he has an idea that might be CrazyEnoughToWork. Annie immediately responds that he's going to crash the car into the plane "like Creator/LiamNeeson in ''[[Film/{{Taken}} Taken 3]]''", and that's exactly what he does. Annie remarks shortly after that Max is "not Liam Neeson"; it genuinely hurts his feelings, and she apologizes.]]
191	** Gary's [[spoiler:StringTheory]] includes VHS cassettes of ''Film/{{Philadelphia}}'', ''Film/{{Braveheart}}'' and ''Film/TheGreenMile'', which he watched in preparation for [[spoiler:his own death scene]]. Gary also tries tries to convey ''The Green Mile'' in a ''Pictionary'' game where he just draws his crying face, feeling that this reaction would be enough to be understood.
192	** See TakeThat below.
193	* SoftGlass: Subverted. Several people get bodyslammed onto glass tables, all of which prove too sturdy to break.
194	* StalkerShrine: Gary has a pretty intense bookcase full of mementos to his wife, Debbie, and their short marriage.
195	* TheStinger: This film has a brief scene at the very end of the credits involving [[spoiler:another appearance of "Not Denzel" and the first on-screen appearance of Debbie, Gary's ex-wife, as they have a MeetCute at the same gas station where "Not Denzel" met Michelle]].
196	* StringTheory: The CreativeClosingCredits feature [[spoiler:Gary's basement, which details his plan to get back into game night.]]
197	* 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's 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\|Trope}}; Max learns during the adventure that all of Brooks's 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'''.]]
198	* SymbolicGlassHouse: Brooks' rented house has enormous windows, and he's lying about how he made his money; he's actually a criminal embroiled with the mafia, and he gets violently kidnapped.
199	* TakeThat: The first riddle of the murder mystery is "With shiny fangs, my bloodless bite will bring together what's mostly white." Kevin's first guess? UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump. [[spoiler:It's actually a stapler (the "bloodless bite" being the stapling, and "what's mostly white" being papers).]]
200	* TurbineBlender: A {{mook\|s}} holds Annie at gunpoint right next to a private jet plane. The turbine turns on and the mook gets sucked into it, complete with some CGI gore out the other end.
201	* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: Sarah was genuinely attracted to Ryan and is clearly hurt and disappointed when he casually reveals that she's not really his type and that he only invited her around to have someone competent to be his partner in the game. However, over the course of the evening she gradually becomes much more exasperated with his stupidity while he in turn becomes much more intrigued by her, until by the end he's apparently nursing a torch for her while she's completely over him. [[spoiler:Her still coming to the group's game nights three months later, might mean they've managed to patch up their differences.]]
202	* WeHaveToGetTheBulletOut: Max resolves that he and Annie have to take the bullet out after she shoots him. She scrapes it out.
203	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: When the group finally figure out that the game is for real and they have to steal a {{MacGuffin}} to trade for Brooks's life, Max and Annie tell the others that it's a family obligation and invite them to leave. Kevin, Michelle and Ryan refuse, saying that the reason they have game night is because [[TrueCompanions they love Max and Annie like family]]. It's then noted that Sarah is a newcomer and has no actual ties to them, but she too insists on staying because if she goes home and hears the worst has happened the next morning, she wouldn't forgive herself.
204	-->'''Annie''': You guys should go home, but you [Max] and I are doing this.\
205	'''Kevin''': Okay, what happens if you guys don't make it out?\
206	'''Michelle''': We don't come to game night because we're dying to play charades and shit. We come because we love you guys.\
207	'''Kevin''': Honestly, this is the best part of our week.\
208	'''Ryan''': Mine, too. And I have a lot of options on the weekend.
209	* WimpFight: Played with, as the initial kidnapping of Brooks plays out as a very desperate and sloppy scramble and, surprisingly, Brooks puts up a reasonable fight against two attackers. This actually makes some sense as it shows Brooks is prepared for dangerous situations and [[spoiler:the kidnappers were not high-end professionals, but petty crooks Gary recruited]].

Context Film / GameNight