Game Night

Plot: Max (Jason Bateman) and Anne (Rachel McAdams) invite a group of friends play a murder mystery game that turns out to be too realistic. Kyle's brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) gets kidnapped, and the friends try to sleuth  it out. You never know what is real and what is part of the game. [imdb]    [photos]

Review: I loved Jason Bateman & Rachel McAdams. The script is funny and clever. It is the best comedy I've seen in a long time.

Game Night has the thriller plot twists of a mystery; the catty dialog among the friends; and sitcom humor based on the odd situations.

Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams are so good together. McAdams is so likable to begin with, and 

the dialog is has them bickering and making obscure references to games and movies. Jesse Plemons plays a neighbor in a strange and obsessive way that was occasionally that sets up much of the sitcom humor.

Cast: Rachel McAdams, Jason Bateman, Kyle Chandler, Sharon Horgan, Billy Magnussen, Larmorne Morris, Kyle Bunbury, Jesse Plemons

Directed by: John Francis Daley, Jonathan Goldstein

Written by: Mark Perez

The Music: Good jazz-electronica soundtrack by Cliff Martinez; I liked the moodiness. 

The Visuals: There are some fun visuals like Gary's bloody computer room, and the chase around the mansion with the Faberge Egg. 

Rating: 3.5 stars: It doesn't have any social message, but it is a great comedy. Fun-to-Watch

More: The original score was lighter and comedic, but the test audiences liked the film better with thriller sound track.

Even more: The directors said getting the tone right was the toughest aspect. It couldn't be too zany or too dark to keep the movie working.

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Silver Linings Playbook

Plot: Teacher Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) gets out of mental hospital and moves in with his parents Dolores (Jacki Weaver) and Eagles Football super fan Pat Sr (Robert De Niro.) Pat got committed to the hospital for a fist fight with his wife Niki's lover. Pat is determined to get Niki back by getting his life together. However Niki has a restraining order on him, and he can't get near her. His mom sets him up with Tiffany, (Jennifer Lawrence,) who is/was also mental ill. 

In the hospital Pat has adopted a positive thinking philosophy that concentrates on finding silver linings for bad things that happen. That is where the title comes from.

Pat and Tiffany flirt, and soon Tiffany signs Pat up for a dance contest. They start practicing modern dance moves while Tiffany sneaks letters to Niki. 

Meanwhile Pat Senior is deep into magical thinking  superstitions to get the Eagles to win, and he is gambling big money. 

In the end, the dance contest and a pivotal Eagles playoff game happen on the same night leading to the inevitable end.  [imdb]    [photos]

Review: Silver Linings Playbook is a black romantic-comedy with the twist being mental illness of the characters. Silver Linings doesn't probe the meaning of mental illness: more  that everyone is more or less neurotic. Most of the humor comes from the strange compulsions and maladaptions of Pat and his family. 

I liked the movie because Pat and Tiffany are quirky and good-hearted, and that Pat Sr's goofy football antics provide levity. 

The script delivers clever lines for the whole cast and De Niro, Cooper and Lawrence are up to the challenge with a full range of emotion delivered though the window of altered mental states. 

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro

Directed by: David Russell, based on the novel by Matthew Quick

Rating: 3.5 stars

 

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