Review of The Night Before (2015) by Carlos Javier P — 29 Feb 2016

"Even though the stoner movie is wearing out it's welcome, "The Night Before" is a charming Christmas comedy with laughs and heart".

Movie Review: The Night Before.

Date Viewed: November 20 2015.

Directed By Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies, 50/50 and The Wackness).

Written By Evan Goldberg, Jonathan Levine, Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir.

Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, Lizzy Caplan, Jillian Bell, Michael Shannon, Mindy Kaling, Lorraine Toussaint, Jason Mantzoukas, Jason Jones,.

Miley Cyrus (as herself) and Tracy Morgan.

It's formulaic and it's tasteless but HEY! "The Night Before" is a better holiday movie than "Love the Coopers". It's about three life-long friends who decide to have one last Christmas Eve outing before they move on to their adult lives. "The Night Before" is another stoner comedy from Seth Rogen and company but this one is charming with laughs and heart. I was completely uncomfortable with Miley Cyrus making a cameo appearance as herself but I still had a good time with "The Night Before".

The movie centers around Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) and his best friends, Issac (Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie, who stars in his second Christmas movie in two weeks). They have an annual tradition every Christmas Eve, they go out to get stoned big time, hang out with women and get into the best nightclubs. The three friends have been doing this annual tradition since Ethan's parents died 14 years ago. This Christmas Eve outing is special because the three friends are entering adulthood. Issac is about to be a father, Chris is a famous football star and Ethan is alone and hasn't got a clear direction yet on what he wants to do with his life.

For their lasting outing together, the three of them hope to hit the mother of all Christmas parties, The Nutcracka Ball and Issac's wife, Betsy (Jillian Bell) also gives him a stash of drugs for his last outing with the boys. Why? Because it's Christmas Ya Dopes! The night is full of debauchery and laughs but when we get to the Nutcracka Ball, guess who shows up? Miley Cyrus! I'm not surprised, after all the name of the nightclub is The Nutcracka Ball. We also get Michael Shannon (who scores big laughs) as a stoner mystic named Mr. Green.

The script co-written by director Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies, 50/50) and Seth Rogen's longtime friend Evan Goldberg doesn't go high enough on originality but it is really funny. Being their usual playful selves, Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt previously worked together with Jonathan Levine for the cancer drama "50/50". For a vulgar stoner comedy like this, "The Night Before" is surprisingly sincere and heartfelt.

It is not a great Christmas movie but you'll still have a good time.