The Night Before - movie review

The Night Before

Plot: On Christmas eve, three lifelong friends spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.
Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Jillian Bell
Director: Jonathan Levine
Rating: 15
Runtime: 1hr 41 mins
Release Date: Friday 4th December 2015

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the city, three friends had a party, and their film was quite witty. The Night Before is yet another raucous stoner comedy from the minds of hits such as This Is The End and Pineapple Express. I wasn't quite sure that to expect from this film. The concept of Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt joining forces after the severely underrated 50/50 was intriguing to say the least , but were they simply going to turn Christmas into a drug fuelled bonanza or would it have more effective humour? The answer? Both. The Night Before falls into the same group as This Is The End. It's good and fine to watch but that's about it.

A stoner comedy is by no means unfamiliar territory for Rogen. He eases into his role of a father to be who, on a night out, practically experiences every drug ever. From that moment, I wasn't too excited about his character. My concern was that Rogen would spend the entirety of the movie high and expect the audience to laugh at his misfortune. And he did exactly that. However, I thought it was the best part of the movie. Rogen begins the film as very mild mannered guy but to see him change at the flip of a switch was pretty funny. By far, the best scene of this film was Rogen's character, who is Jewish, stumbling into a Catholic church in the middle of midnight mass. That sequence had me laughing so much that I wished it could have continued for longer. Accompanying Rogen on his Christmas hijinks are Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the main focus of the movie and Anthony Mackie as their celebrity friend. Gordon-Levitt left me feeling mixed about his performance. The actor doesn't suit the raunchy and crazy comedy styles of Rogen and there are moments of where this is incredibly clear and obvious to see. On the other hand, whenever any form of real emotional storytelling is implemented, Gordon-Levitt allows the audience to see what he really is capable of. Mackie was also a slight disappointment. Whilst all three of them have great chemistry, whenever the movie began to focus on Mackie, it didn't engage me as much. His comedy worked at points but he never seemed to give it his all. It was quite a reserved performance. As well as the main three stars of the film, we are treated to supporting performances from comedians such as Jillian Bell as Rogen' wife and Mindy Kaling. But it is Michael Shannon who gives a performance that goes against everything he has ever been in. His depiction of a drug dealer is like seeing General Zod reeling from his defeat in Man Of Steel. He possesses true comedic class and may he receive more roles along the same lines as this.

The second half of this film is monumentally better that the first half. Throughout the opening forty minutes, I never understood what this film was trying to accomplish. Instead of a fully fledged story, the actors seemed to hopscotch their way into countless clubs, get drunk and/or high, party and then move onto the next one. This was only slightly humourous for the first time it happened but it was clear that the writers were struggling for ideas. It isn't until the moment when the friends depart from each other to follow their own quest that it clicked for me as to what The Night Before was attempting to do. From then on, I enjoyed it very much so. It was not a comedy that will be regarded as the best thing since Superbad but I had fun. Some of the motives from the three characters seemed a little contrived. Rogen's character that is soon to be a father was handled with no issues at all. It was a shame that the other friend's were not. Mackie's character had the largest writing issue due to the personal trouble he is facing. Rogen is worrying that he won't be a good enough father whilst Gordon-Levitt is desperate to make amends with his ex girlfriend. Mackie however, is given a brief and not very impactful story of doping in sports. It never had any development and was incredibly forced to make him seem more human.

One thing that surprised me during the film was at how many moments improvisation took over from the scripted story. Rogen and Kaling are experts at this and it shows but whenever Gordon-Levitt or Mackie attempt it, there never was quite the same effect. The jokes that they made up were never genuine and it was clearly obvious that they were improvising. True and masterful improvisation blends into the story so that you never notice it. There was also too many frequent uses of improvisation that it ultimately detracted from any development of the story making it feel basic and stilted in certain scenes. What I didn't expect from this film was the Christmas spirit it provided. Amongst all the alcohol and drugs, Levine crafts a tale that shows how much Christmas means to be people and how it can be the most wonderful time of the year for some.

The Night Before is not quite the hilarious comedy I had hoped for. They do play upon the Christmas situation and Rogen and Shannon gives some of the funniest performances of their careers but there seemed to be one special thing lacking that could have made this film great. But hey, I'll settle for it being good.

My Verdict: 6.5/10

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