Why the hell did I not see this film in theaters!?
I was definitely intrigued in seeing The Night Before, but it just so happened to release during cinema’s busiest time of the year: Oscar season. With its average rating on Rotten Tomatoes (curse you Rotten Tomatoes and your overall scores infrequently aligning with my personal tastes) I continuously postponed seeing The Night Before for other films, until it was too late and the film had left theaters. Jump to present day and I finally got a chance to watch the film at home. Having now seen The Night Before my first response is why? Why did I accept Rotten Tomatoes scores and doubt the comedic genius that frequently comes from a Seth Rogen film!? Was it perhaps The Interview’s subpar meekness that helped sway my interest away from The Night Before? Was I so blind as to have forgotten all the joy and laughter Rogen has bestowed upon me from a multitude of comedy gems! Never again Seth Rogen, never again.
The Night Before is a typical, well-made Seth Rogen comedy (Rogen may not have been the film’s director, but it has his style written all over it). On the outside, the film is covered with unapologetic, politically incorrect crudeness, its shell packed with sidesplitting hilarity, wit and entertainment, and at its core a charming kindness and compassion towards its flawed, yet goodnatured characters. The film is set during Christmas Eve, where three friends (played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anthony Mackie) go out to celebrate their annual Christmas tradition one last time. The Night Before’s comedic highlights are Seth Rogen’s escapade on many different drugs throughout the film, and Michael Shannon as the mysterious pot dealer Mr. Green. The former provides a multitude of hysterical scenarios—each scenario building upon the last in glorious fashion—while the latter is something I never knew I wanted, but after seeing wondered why it took so long to exist! Inside joke here, but the first line Shannon says is near identical to how I used to introduce myself during high school, right down to its creepy inflection (I was a strange kid in high school…though I’m even stranger now). To hear the great Michael Shannon say those lines, well, that alone would have made the film for me. The Night Before may become a holiday classic for me, though one I will only watch with older family due to its R-rating.