The Night Before (2015)

Wow! Such a good movie.

Better Late Then Never

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

If cinema in the 21st century has failed in any one regard, it's delivering new classic Christmas movies. Sure, there's a point to be made that great Christmas movies are older movies because they should evoke nostalgia, but nostalgia is relative. "The Night Before" won't be recognized as a new classic, but in the era of raunchier, R-rated Christmas films we somehow find ourselves in, at least it evokes the "spirit of Christmas" without falling all over itself.Like every great Christmas creation, "The Night Before" is of course made by Jews. Jonathan Levine, who previously brought Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen together to make the severely underrated cancer comedy "50/50," gets credited with the story and the screenplay (co-written with Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir and Evan Goldberg). The reason this makes sense is because only a Jewish person would have experience with Christmas Eve debauchery, seeing as everyone else is spending time with family.So it makes sense that the story follows a 30-something bachelor in Ethan (Gordon-Levitt) who loves Christmas but who lost his parents as a teenager and therefore has nowhere to go. His friends Isaac and Chris' (Rogen and Anthony Mackie) effort to spend time with him therefore morphed into a Christmas Eve tradition with a mix of activities from PG to Hard R. Only now, Isaac is about to be a dad and Chris is a star football player, so their tradition (and relationships) are at a crossroads. "The Night Before" is as much about sorting through the stark realities of being in one's thirties as it is about being a Christmas stoner comedy and that's where Levine excels. His films have always marketed as comedy but remain invested in actual human issues. And that's not saying that the script haphazardly throws in feel-good Christmas themes or wedges in other values; he actually commits screen time to those themes and values and they go deeper than the self-evident, surface level.All that being as it may, "The Night Before" cares foremost about its commitment to being a comedy. What separates it from other films that have attempted the same is the writing and the cast. Most of these "epic night out" movies force and fabricate the most outlandish comedic situations imaginable and end up losing sight of reality. And while Michael Shannon playing a weed dealer with abilities out of "A Christmas Carol" can't exactly claim to be in touch, a talent like Shannon understands exactly how to play that kind of scene to underscore the value of him being there aside from being a hilarious cameo.Another good example: all these movies have trippy drug scenes. The difference with "The Night Before" is that going nuts on drugs is written into Rogen's character. His pregnant wife gifts him a mystery box of substances as a pre-fatherhood "thank you" and the line between recreational use and trying to feel better about his underlying fears is the essence of his character arc. Him going crazy therefore isn't condensed into one wild situational comedy sequence. "The Night Before" could easily be reduced to a dumb Christmas-themed guys' night out stoner comedy, or it could be looked at more closely as a film about aging out of that stuff through the lens of Christmas spirit. It works on both those levels, and that's kind of a nice gift. If it had more originality to it, it would probably rise above its above-average comedy status into something more memorable, but in the crowd of Christmas movies that tried to do the same thing, it stands a bit taller.~Steven CThanks for reading! Visit Movie Muse Reviews for more

A couple of laughs, but the whole Christmas theme mashed up with a raunchy drug movie just didn't mesh all that well and came across as forced. The attempts at pathos were hackneyed and broad and the callbacks to much better holiday movies just hammered the point home that this is not destined to be a classic, or even remembered. The dick pic gag was great though.

Friends Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) Isaac (Seth Rogen)and Chris (Anthony Mackie) are 30 something men who decide to spend the night before Christmas out on the tiles in New York City. Isaac is settled down now so this is intended as one last 'hurrah' for the men and when they hear about the best party in town known as the 'Nutcracker' they make it their mission to get to this party, but when you're high this seemingly straight-forward task becomes increasingly difficult for the three men.Accepting from an early stage that this is nothing more than The Hangover at Christmas I was initially happy to take it for what it is and it actually begins OK. The three men are all at different stages in their lives and join together to try to re-live their glory years. I found I could identify with the men and was prepared to accept that a predictable journey of self-discovery was going to ensue for all of the men...What I wasn't prepared for was just how much mush and sentimentality director and writer Jonathan Levine managed to cram into this film. Now don't get me wrong I'm prepared to accept that many Christmas films have some sentiment in them and I appreciate that Levine was trying to highlight the importance of love and friendship, but it felt like he had no real faith in his audience and it seemed that he had to spell out his message at virtually every single plot turn. Nearly every amusing moment and scene is rounded off with soppiness and morality and in themselves these things are not negatives, but when they're featured in nearly every scene it really starts to grate and become repetitive. I think the worst example of this was the weed-thief who despite being a self-proclaimed Grinch still had to have a sappy moment before the pretty amusing Die Hard parody that followed. It was like Levine was too frightened to take any risks and thought 'Oh no!!! I better put some sentiment in at the end of this scene in case I upset the audience.' I honestly don't believe I ever seen so much sap in one film and it really does drag the film down.It's actually ironic that Levine loads his film with so much mawkish sentiment about love and friendship in order to get the audience to understand what Christmas is all about, but then crams the film with shameful amounts of product placement and advertisements which effectively commercialise Christmas which negates what Christmas is all about; seriously a stretch Limo with Red Bull plastered on the side of it in huge letters is hardly subtle not to mention the number of times Red Bull itself is mentioned and Anthony Mackie announcing that his Sony Experia phone is the biggest phone on the market. When scrutinised this all seems rather hypocritical.Even if you overlook the mawkish sentiment and the ridiculous product placement the story is only really effective on odd occasions. The plot itself is incredibly thin and is painfully stretched over 90 odd minutes. It's actually past the hour mark before they reach the party and up to this point the narrative is rather scattershot and unfocused. The scene where Chris gets his weed stolen is actually repeated twice and Seth Rogen's drug-induced stupor is amusing at times, but again becomes a one-note concept that becomes repetitive and tiresome and Mackie and Gordon-Levitt are never really given any funny material to work with. One thing I will concede is that their friendship is generally believable which is one thing that does work in the film's favour.The Night Before is at its best when it is parodying other films such as Big, Home Alone and Die Hard and its self-awareness like this that is one of its biggest strengths. It isn't a complete laugh-dodge either and there are some genuinely funny moments dotted about here and there - Michael Shannon as Mr Green is responsible for some of the best moments in the film and manages to be funny, but in a low-key and subtle way. However, the relentless mush and sentiment just gets too much and in some ways it shows a lack of bravery on Levine's behalf - it really could have been a great anti PC Christmas film like Bad Santa. The fact that it sells itself as a raucous film about three grown men getting wasted and off their face on drugs and then suffocating the film with sentiment ultimately results in a tonal clash which left me rather unsatisfied when the credits finally started rolling.

Who doesn't love Christmas movies? Me. I don't, with the exception of NATIONAL LAMPOON'S Christmas VACATION and A VERY HAROLD & KUMAR Christmas. Most Christmas movies are nauseatingly saccharine or insultingly inane. Probably because the target audience is generally kids or families. But why should they have the Christmas movie racket cornered? I want more holiday cheer for people like me: cynical, reveling in the absurd, and occasionally inebriated. Enter THE NIGHT BEFORE, from director Jonathan Levine. It's the tale of three friends: Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Seth Rogen), and Chris (Anthony Mackie) and their annual tradition of getting together on Christmas Eve for a night of drunken debauchery and a celebration of their long-lasting friendship. This particular year, though, the tradition has reached a breaking point. Isaac is getting ready to start a family and Chris's football career has launched him to celebrity status. Ethan, whose life has stagnated, is the only one keen on continuing their Christmas Eve antics and a lucky break leads him to "acquire" tickets to an infamous underground Christmas party….the party to end all parties…the Nutcracker Ball. The trio gets together, don their Christmas sweaters, and set out for one last insane night in New York City where everything that can go wrong will go wrong. Meanwhile, the three of them are each confronted by a mystical marijuana dealer and forced to confront their past, present, or future (because Christmas). THE NIGHT BEFORE, while entertaining, doesn't stand out and probably won't be remembered long.Jonathan Levine is the director behind the 2011 comedy/drama 50/50 in which Seth Rogen helps best friend Joseph Gordon-Levitt cope with a cancer diagnosis. It's an occasional tear-jerker with bouts of humor in the same vein as Rogen's other work, though generally not as crude. It was good. Not great, but good. The same can be said for THE NIGHT BEFORE. The most effective element that I remember from 50/50 was the dramatic moments. I can remember some of the more heart-wrenching moments but, looking back, I couldn't tell you one particular moment that had me laughing. THE NIGHT BEFORE is sort of the opposite. It's got those heartfelt moments. The character of Ethan is pretty relatable and his struggles are familiar. His parents died during the holidays (which set off the guys' current tradition when Isaac and Chris came to the rescue as a surrogate), he's single (his last relationship, which he continues to dwell on, fell apart when he couldn't bring himself to meet his girlfriend's parents), and he's aimless. He doesn't have a career his more successful friends; Isaac is a moderately successful lawyer and Chris is a football player with the NFL. When we're introduced to him, he's working a crappy gig as a server dressed as a Christmas elf for a wealthy party. All he has left are his friends and this tradition, and they're ready to move on. In related subplots, his friends are dealing with their own crises. Isaac is panicking at the idea of being a father and Chris is coming to grips with the fact that his sudden success in the NFL is a lie (i.e. steroids). Their stories are told well but nothing is particularly engaging about any of it. I guarantee, a year or so down the line, I won't remember any of these holiday-worthy heartfelt stories. I'll just remember Seth Rogen on a crap-load of drugs.It's just one of a handful of running gags throughout the movie but it's probably the most memorable. Isaac's wife (played by Jillian Bell) is proud of how well he's handled his impending fatherhood and, as a Christmas gift, gives him a small box containing, well, every drug. Weed, ecstasy, psilocybin mushrooms, etc. He's meant to share it with the group but ends up consuming the entire box himself over the course of the night and has an admittedly hilarious drug-fueled spirit quest. My favorite scene in the movie is probably when he's whacked out on mushrooms and accidentally finds himself in church for midnight mass with his sister and her family members. Another highlight is Michael Shannon's role as the trio's drug dealer, Mr. Green. I wasn't expecting Shannon and I love that he's capable of having stupid fun in the occasional comedy (see also: the second ANCHORMAN movie) as much as he is delivering powerhouse performances. Shannon's inclusion and Rogen's drug-frenzy are about the only things that stand out in this otherwise amusing but totally forgettable movie. THE NIGHT BEFORE has all the elements in place for the sort of Christmas comedy I'm looking for but so much of it goes to waste. I can watch it and enjoy it in the moment, but there's nothing special here that'll keep me coming back every holiday season for some yuletide laughs. If you've not seen it and are wondering if it's worth your time, I'd say sure. It's collected a great comedy cast and there are some solid moments in there. Something's bound to get a chuckle from you.