Why isn't Rachel McAdams a superstar?

Hollywood is wasting her old-fashioned star power

Rachel McAdams.
(Image credit: Mark Sagliocco/Getty Images)

Don't you miss Rachel McAdams?

When she first appears in the new comedy Game Night, sharing competitive banter and, shortly thereafter, makeout sessions with studio regular Jason Bateman, there is a palpable sense of reunion. Not between her and Bateman, mind, but between her and the moviegoing audience, who have seemed primed to embrace McAdams as a Julia Roberts-level megastar for about 15 years.

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Jesse Hassenger

Jesse Hassenger's film and culture criticism has appeared in The Onion's A.V. Club, Brooklyn Magazine, and Men's Journal online, among others. He lives in Brooklyn, where he also writes fiction, edits textbooks, and helps run SportsAlcohol.com, a pop culture blog and podcast.