The Night Before 2015

Their past, present and future. All in one night.

6.096 / 10   1616 vote(s)
R
Comedy Adventure Fantasy

In New York City for their annual tradition of Christmas Eve debauchery, three lifelong best friends set out to find the Holy Grail of Christmas parties since their yearly reunion might be coming to an end.

Homepage https://www.facebook.com/NightBeforeMovie
Release Date 2015-11-20
Runtime 1h 41m
Directors Jonathan Levine, Brandon Trost, Jonathan Watson, Sandi Greenberg, Hinju Kim, Peter Dorsey
Producers Shaun Burke, Evan Goldberg, Barbara A. Hall, Kyle Hunter, Nathan Kahane, Seth Rogen, Joseph Drake, Michael Flynn, Alex McAtee, Sasha Paracels, Ariel Shaffir, Ben Waisbren, James Weaver, Spencer Wong, Neishaw Ali, J.P. Giamos
Writers Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter, Jonathan Levine, Ariel Shaffir, Jonathan Levine

The skeleton of The Night Before is very clichéd, but the cast is magnificent and the requisite amount of jokes land.

Final rating:★★½ - Had a lot that appealed to me, didn’t quite work as a whole.

Gimly

Funny.

'The Night Before' makes for very amusing viewing, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie are great together, I like all three actors individually and as a trio they are just as terrific - all give entertaining performances.

Rogen plays the most obvious role for him yet absolutely nails it, Gordon-Levitt is probably the weaker of the three but is still pleasant to watch - as is Mackie. The casting is top notch, with supports like Michael Shannon and Tracy Morgan. There are other noteworthy faces involved too, like Ilana Glazer and Lorraine Toussaint.

The plot isn't anything crazy or distinctive, yet still feels suitably fresh for the vast majority. I will say, though, the film does hit a bit of a wall at around the midway point, but thankfully picks up almost immediately - thanks to a great scene with a couple of fun cameos.

An enjoyable film. It's ridiculous, but they make it work. Recommended.

r96sk