Review: The Night Before

-
Get in the Christmas Spirit.
10 years ago, Ethan's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) parents were killed right before Christmas. Since then, his childhood friends, Isaac (Seth Rogan) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) have spent Christmas Eve with him partying in New York City. Most recently, they've been trying to secure tickets to an exclusive party called the Nutcracker Ball. Although Ethan isn't ready to let go of the tradition, Isaac is about to become a father and Chris is a famous NFL player, so this will be their final Christmas together. 

I've been looking forward to this film all year, even when it was boringly dubbed "Untitled Jonathan Levine Christmas Comedy" for months. This cast is fantastic, unfortunately the movie has quite a few cliches, and not nearly as many laughs as a cast like this deserves. 

Don't get me wrong, I did laugh during this, especially at the guys' drug dealer, Mr. Green. (Michael Shannon) but I felt like it could've been funnier. The dramatic plot device that forces Ethan, Isaac and Chris to split up for a short time in the film is such a mess that it's almost distracting, but as weird as this is about to sound....Miley Cyrus comes in and saves it.

The actors were great, obviously. They always are. Anyone reading my blog knows how much I love Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Mackie, Rogen, and Shannon were all great as well. The film is still pretty funny, and is probably one of the better comedies out this year, I just wanted a bit more.

Recommended: Yes

Grade: B-

Memorable Quote: "I've been told I have a quiet intensity about me." - Mr. Green (Michael Shannon)

Comments

  1. AnonymousNovember 30, 2015 at 8:52 PM

    It definitely had room for more funny...but I still enjoyed it :)

    I laughed the most when SR was in church.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 1, 2015 at 6:51 AM

      Yes! That was great. I did laugh when Ethan gets punched by that drunk guy in the Santa costume and he's like "I teach 3rd grade, bitch! I'm shaping the youth of tomorrow!"

      Delete
  2. Candice FrederickDecember 1, 2015 at 12:28 AM

    i totally felt it could have been funnier too! i thought the guys were having more fun than the audience.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 1, 2015 at 6:51 AM

      That's true. There were also scenes in the trailers that weren't in the film. I felt like they cut a lot of stuff.

      Delete
  3. m.brownDecember 1, 2015 at 11:28 AM

    I totally agree. I left the theater smiling, but there were a surprising amount of gaps in the laughs. That said, still very funny (the bar is so high, though).

    Glad you got to catch it!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 1, 2015 at 11:29 AM

      I am too. :) All I did yesterday was stay at the theater. lol

      I needed alone time.

      Delete
  4. UnknownDecember 1, 2015 at 8:01 PM

    I still need to see this! Someone tells me that nothing will live up to This is the End.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 1, 2015 at 10:20 PM

      It's definitely not as funny as This Is the End. That one still wins.

      Delete
  5. UnknownDecember 3, 2015 at 8:58 AM

    I'm really glad you enjoyed this, I'm looking forward to seeing it soon. I'm definitely not expecting it to beat This is the End, but at least I know it'll be good :)
    - Allie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 4, 2015 at 1:12 PM

      Thanks! This is the End is at the top end of comedy lol. It's hard to compare.

      Delete
  6. s.December 4, 2015 at 12:22 PM

    I'm dying to see this, does Shannon have a lot of screen time?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamDecember 4, 2015 at 1:12 PM

      Not a whole lot, but he makes every second of it count. He has about 4 scenes, about as much as Lizzie Caplain and Mindy Kaling have.

      Delete
  7. JoshFebruary 3, 2016 at 5:29 AM

    I couldn't quite drag myself to the theater for this, but I'll probably check it out on DVD. Love the cast.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamFebruary 3, 2016 at 6:46 AM

      It's more of a DVD movie than a theater movie anyways. But it's JGL, so I will go to anything in theaters for him. lol

      Delete
  8. Have you viewed Alaskan Brown Bear HuntsMay 7, 2017 at 9:04 PM

    So hilariously inappropriate and yet one of our favorite movies of all time. We watch it at least once a month. Good for
    A laugh no matter what. Seth Rogen is a hoot.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for stopping by, let's talk movies!
(comments are moderated to reduce spam)

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Indie Gems: Behind The Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon

-
Image
Passionate about your profession? I had never heard of this film until it ended up on one of Jason's favorite horror movie lists around Halloween. It immediately sounded interesting to me, so of course I threw it in my Netflix queue. (and if I'm just now watching it after adding it around Halloween, you know how ridiculous my queue is) Taylor (Angela Goethals) is a journalist who, along with a film crew decides to follow around a serial killer named Leslie Vernon. (Nathan Baesel) He plans on doing the typical slasher thing - getting a bunch of drunk teens in an abandoned house and knocking them off one by one. He gets advice from a retired serial killer, Eugene (Scott Wilson) and is threatened by a man who's on to him, Doc Holloran (Robert Englund) Taylor and crew are there capturing it all. Leslie Vernon is fucking hilarious to start with, and clearly very passionate about what he does. He tells Taylor all of his secrets and can barely contain his excitemen...
Read more

My Favorite Movie Youtube Channels

-
Image
Starting around 2018, I started watching Youtube for more than just movie trailers or music videos whenever a new one dropped. Now I'm in full blown subscription mode and don't bat an eyelash at watching a Youtube video that's over an hour long. I watch Youtube for a few different categories of content, but one of them that I love most is movie/TV essays and commentary, and that's what I'm going to talk about today. Below is a list of my favorite movie related Youtube channels. Let me know if you're familiar with them too, or if you have any you'd like to recommend to me.  Double Toasted - I'm honestly surprised this channel isn't bigger. I first came across Korey and Martin when they reviewed War for the Planet of the Apes a few months before it hit theaters and I thought they were hysterical. While their full length videos stream on Twitch, they often upload their movie reviews and commentary on youtube and they're always hilarious. They've...
Read more