The Night Before: Movie Review

“The Night Before”, the latest comedy from writer/director Jonathan Levine (“50/50”, “Warm Bodies”) stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, and Anthony Mackie as three life-long friend who spend Christmas Eve in New York City looking for the ultimate secret Christmas party. Despite the talent behind and in front of the camera, I found myself underwhelmed by the lack of laughs delivered.

When Ethan (Gordon-Levitt) was younger, he lost his parents. Luckily Ethan’s best friends Isaac (Rogen) and Chris (Mackie) were there for him and they began an annual tradition of spending Christmas Eve together, roaming the city and having fun. With Chris’s Football career taking off and Isaac on the brink of fatherhood, the trio are out to have one final Christmas eve blast in New York. Little do they know that their friendship will be tested by night’s end.

I have always been a fan of stories based on a group of kids/adults out in the city for a night, finding themselves in all types of messed up situations (“Adventures in Babysitting”, “Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist”, “License to Drive”). I just expected “The Night Before” to be much funnier. Michael Shannon delivers the most memorable scenes as the spiritual drug dealer in what is basically an extended cameo. Rogen also managed to get some chuckles out of me as his character dealt with the side effects of various drugs. Gordon-Levitt is as likable here as usual but doesn’t bring much as far as laughs. Same goes for Mackie. “The Night Before” isn’t bad. It does have its’ moments, but those looking for a lot of laughs might find themselves as disappointed as I was.

By: Marc Ferman