Game Over, Man! is a 2018 American action comedy film directed by Kyle Newacheck, written by Anders Holm, and starring Holm, Adam DeVine, and Blake Anderson, all of whom previously collaborated on the sitcom Workaholics. It follows three down-on-their-luck housekeepers who must save the day when the Los Angeles hotel where they work is taken hostage. The film was released on March 23, 2018, on Netflix to generally negative reception from critics.
| Game Over, Man! | |
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Promotional poster | |
| Directed by | Kyle Newacheck |
| Screenplay by | Anders Holm |
| Story by |
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| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Grant Smith |
| Edited by | Evan Henke |
| Music by | Steve Jablonsky |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | Netflix |
Release date |
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Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $27.1 million[1] |
Plot
editThree friends, Alexxx, Darren, and Joel "Baby Dunk", work as housekeepers at a luxury hotel in Los Angeles and seize an opportunity to pitch their idea to potential investor Awadi, the Bey of Tunisia. The Bey offers the trio a check, but the hotel manager quickly confiscates it and fires them.
Moments later Awadi is taken hostage by terrorists, alongside everyone else in the hotel. The inexperienced trio narrowly escape the terrorists; meanwhile the Bey is forced to share details for an offshore account allowing the terrorists' hacker to drain the funds. As the trio attempt another escape, they inadvertently crash into the security room, happening to thwart the hacking.
Bey Awadi's personal attaché Ahmad is revealed to be the mastermind behind the terrorist siege. He gets on television demanding $500 million, proceeding to kill one hostage every 15 minutes until his demands are met.
Seeking revenge on the trio, one terrorist captures and tortures them in the hotel spa. They attack and kill him, then rig his body with a version of their invention, a remote-controlled power suit. Sending him into the conference room as an initial attack, the trio then enter with automatic weapons.
Ahmad receives a getaway helicopter, and the trio appear on the roof, apparently carrying the ransom money. They trade the money for Bey Awadi, and as the helicopter departs, we learn the trio smuggled explosives onboard. One of the surviving hostages offers the trio a lucrative video game development deal.
Cast
edit- Adam DeVine as Alexxx
- Anders Holm as Darren
- Blake Anderson as Joel aka "Baby Dunk"
- Utkarsh Ambudkar Bae Awadi
- Aya Cash as Cassie
- Neal McDonough as Conrad
- Daniel Stern as Mitch
- Jamie Demetriou as Mr. Ahmad
- Rhona Mitra as Erma
- Sam Richardson as Donald
- Steve Howey as Rich
- Mac Brandt as Jared
- Geno Segers as Sal
Several celebrities also have cameo appearances as themselves, including Shaggy, Sugar Lyn Beard, Fred Armisen, Joel McHale, Flying Lotus, Steve-O, Donald Faison, Action Bronson, Chris Pontius, and Mark Cuban.
Production
editOn June 9, 2016, Netflix announced that it was producing Game Over, Man! with producers including Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, and James Weaver via their Point Grey banner; and Scott Rudin and Eli Bush via Scott Rudin Productions. The list of producers also includes Adam DeVine, Anders Holm, Blake Anderson, and Kyle Newacheck, who collectively form the comedy group Mail Order Comedy, as well as Isaac Horne of Avalon Management.[2][3]
Release
editThe film held its official premiere on March 21, 2018, at the Regency Village Theater in Los Angeles, California.[4][5]
Reception
editCritical reception
editGame Over, Man! has been met with a generally negative response from critics. On the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an 18% approval rating with an average rating of 3.6/10 based on 17 reviews.[6] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 32 out of 100 based on 8 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".[7]
In a negative review, Glenn Kenny of The New York Times said, "This almost laugh-free comedy...is distinguished by a relentless level of outrageous yet strangely listless vulgarity."[8] In a similarly negative review, Variety's Monica Castillo said "Game Over, Man! is a movie with few original ideas, plenty of tropes, and not enough love for the Bill Paxton Aliens character who made its eponymous catchphrase popular."[9] Indiewire's David Ehrlich was more mixed saying, "Game Over, Man! becomes to Workaholics what Keanu was to Key & Peele — a sporadically funny riff on a formula that worked much better in small doses. You know it’s a Netflix joint, because it almost feels designed to be half-watched in the background; an overly loud piece of muzak."[10] In a somewhat positive review, Michael Rechtshaffen of the Los Angeles Times said "The guys occasionally over-reach for irreverence, director and fellow Workaholics veteran Kyle Newacheck mainly succeeds in delivering the most defiantly outrageous farce since Borat."[11]
References
edit- ^ "Initial Certification Search" (Type "Game Over" in the search box). Fastlane NextGen. Archived from the original on July 16, 2022. Retrieved May 9, 2020.
- ^ Kit, Borys (June 9, 2016). "'Workaholics' Creators, Seth Rogen Team for Action Comedy 'Game Over, Man!' (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
- ^ Cabin, Chris (June 9, 2016). "'Workaholics' Creators Team With Seth Rogen for Netflix's 'Game Over, Man!'". Collider. Archived from the original on January 5, 2018. Retrieved January 4, 2018.
- ^ "Movie Premieres". Westwood Village. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved March 20, 2018.
- ^ Greggs, Gina (March 22, 2018). "Celeb Snaps! Hottest Star Sightings — Thursday, March 22, 2018 Celebuzz!". Celebuzz. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2018.
- ^ "Game Over, Man! (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on 2022-02-04. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "Game Over, Man! Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Kenny, Glenn (March 22, 2018). "Review: 'Game Over, Man!' Is Far From Pitch Perfect". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 23, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Castillo, Monica (March 23, 2018). "Film Review: 'Game Over, Man!'". Variety. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Ehrlich, David (March 23, 2018). "'Game Over, Man!' Review: The 'Workaholics' Team Reunites for a Drug-Addled Riff on 'Die Hard'". IndieWire. Archived from the original on March 24, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Rechtshaffen, Michael (March 22, 2018). "The 'Workaholics' crew reunites for raunchy Netflix comedy 'Game Over, Man!'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 25, 2018. Retrieved March 25, 2018.