GAME NIGHT [R] B

Directors John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (the screenwriting duo behind the “Vacation” update and “Spider-Man: Homecoming”) and writer Mark Perez (“Accepted”) play a seemingly never-ending joke on Max (Jason Bateman) and Annie (Rachel McAdams), but the real punches bludgeon the audiences in the not-so cheap seats. The narrative takes this highly competitive pair and transforms their regular game night into a twisted real-life murder mystery where the stakes escalate, but the long-playing scenes feel like jokes in search of punchlines, but there are solid payoffs for patient viewers, largely because we’re willing to hang in with the engagingly dynamic duo of Bateman and McAdams and the sneakily stellar supporting cast (Lamorne Morris, Kyle Chandler, Jesse Plemons, and Sharon Horgan). Thankfully, the fun and games aspect never takes itself too seriously.