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User Reviews for: The Night Before

Keeper70
/10  3 years ago
For me, a grumpy old man, this story seems as old as the hills. The characters are on the cusp of serious adulthood, children, a professional career, a professional athlete on top of his game and of course the one that cannot change, is stuck yearning for his youthful exuberance. Throw in a ballsed up relationship get in Gordon-Levitt and you have so far, so familiar. Then tip in a legendary party that the trio always wanted to get to but just could not and this neighbour is very familiar. You will not get lost let us just say.

Levine and his fellow scriptwriters change it up a bit by setting our events over Christmas and giving Gordon-Levitt a very sad back story to garner sympathy for his behaviour and motivation but this is all still served on top of the gross-out man-babies we are used to.

The setting of Christmas gives the makers a chance to play with some familiar themes and stories and weave them into the procedures. It is fun spotting them but I do feel these cute little hat tips are not enough to hold it all together and certainly not enough to elevate this tale above the others of its type.

As an audience we are asked to accept the usual comedic behaviour that in a normal life would have you calling the police or at the least not having these people as friends. Ethan steals the tickets from a jacket he is coat-checking in – this is a despicable hat and no excuse because he does not like this job. Seth Roget goes potty insane over the fact he is having a baby. Most people probably get worried, get that stressed over this impending responsibility but, and I fully realise this is a comedy, the over-the-top response to this by Rogen left me cold and just thinking his character was an extreme dickhead. He is an ex ‘pot-head’ (again Seth really?) so his paranoia could be explained by this but for me it just was not that funny a portrayal.

In fact being honest the three main characters are selfish idiots who you would run a mile from. The only strength they have is their strong friendship and as per usual the strong women in their lives who, with the exception of the mother-figure, would not have stuck around for so long. I found it unfathomable why any of them would have anything to do with them but hey-ho.

Rogen, Gordon-Levitt and Mackie give solid and dependable performances whilst hardly pushing any envelopes or stretching themselves, safe and sound. Even Michael Shannon as the initially menacing Mr.Green could be said to be playing against type but not really.

The women in the film Jillian Bell, Lizzy Caplan and Lorraine Toussaint get to play long-suffering, patient, loving and loyal to people who do not deserve it – again. Seemingly the most popular role you will get offered.

Night Before breaks no new ground and is not even top-notch in its genre, it is slap bang in the middle. It is fun and if you are a film buff and it does have competent and safe acting but it really is disappointingly familiar. As I watched it I was annoyed by it as much as I was entertained. There was just enough to keep me watching. I have to say I could not recommend Night After and will never watch it again.

There was a lot of talent involved but I really do wish they would try something different with this type of film and characters. We can but hope.

Also in these type of films why is the party the lamest direst event that you would not want to go to, that in this event that gets an unlikely Miley Cyrus promotional thrust into the middle of it. Corny, badly acted and unnecessary
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