Movie Review: The Night Before

Let me open this review by way of a confession: I really enjoyed The Night Before.



I thought I might (I thought both The Interview and Neighbors were great), but was still a little wary (I hated Pineapple Express and Knocked Up). For me, these films live or die for me on the charisma of the non-Seth Rogen cast and The Night Before has, perhaps, the best cast of any Rogen-centric feature. While Anthony Mackie and Joseph Gordon-Levitt do admirable service as long standing best buds, it is really the women who carry the day. Jillian Bell (who was fantastic in 22 Jump Street) shines as Rogen's pregnant wife, whose gift to him before he sets off into the night sets all of the film's funniest scenes into motion, and Lizzy Caplan is an American treasure who is running dangerously close to being so consistently good in everything she does that she becomes underrated. That Michael Shannon delivers his best performance since Mud is just icing on the cake.

Some critics have openly expressed displeasure with the way the film weaves the story lines and development arcs of the three main characters. I actually think it is a strength. As Love Actually has redefined the parameters of a certain kind of Christmas movie it is nice to have a film that is willing and able to play with that kind of storytelling in a bawdy way. I think that criticism would be better founded if this were a sloppy film, but it isn't. There is attention to detail at every level. This, by itself, doesn't make it a great movie, but it does make it competent and worthy of consideration beyond the register of dismissiveness that has greeted it so far. That the film explores desperation in three distinct registers, and argues in a persuasive manner that human connection is the only answer to our existential misery is no small accomplishment for a film whose production team spent hours and hours of searching public domain dick pics in order to find one that looked erect while flaccid (thanks MPAA).

To say that this film treats with existential misery may seem to be giving it too much credit, but I really don't think so. The central conflicts revolve around seeking identity through professional success at any cost, the crushing weight of parental anxiety and the knowledge that you are responsible for a human being who will go out into the world and do things, and the ponderous weight of death. This may not be The Brothers Karamazov, but it's not nothing and to talk about it like it is demonstrates a kind of critical pomposity that is a bad look.

Yes, there are bits that don't work: the cocaine blood in the drink is mortifying, not funny, and the attempt to steal the horse drawn carriage falls flat. But this is true of any screwball comedy. There are also moments that are deeply hilarious and true to the characters, and it's on the strength of these moments that the film should be measured.

Also, Michael Shannon is worth the price of admission all by himself.

Rating: 3/4

Two more incidental confessions:

I saw, but did not review Spectre (I thought it was a 2/4, for what its worth, and did not find the constant visual quotations from other Bond films charming at all).

I saw, but won't be reviewing Mockingjay (I thought it was a 1.5/4, and thought the dialogue and acting were so portentous and overloaded that I could hardly believe it).