The Night Before Review
Having previously worked together on 50/50 the trio of Jonathan Levine, Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt team-up for this festive tale about friendship – The Night Before.
After the Christmas-time death of Ethan’s parents, his friends Chris and Isaac rally round him and unknowingly kick off a Christmas tradition where the trio spend Christmas Eve getting drunk and searching for a magical and secret party known as The Nutcracker Ball. When we start the film the trio’s tradition is coming to an end, life it seems has gotten in the way. Isaac is about to become a father and Chris is a mega-star footballer and both are ready to move on. Sadly the same can’t be said for Ethan who is stuck unemployed and alone after splitting with his girlfriend due to a fear of intimacy and commitment.
The Night Before Review
Although set at Christmas, and there being plenty of decorations and traditions around, The Night Before is a film much more concerned with the bond between three friends and telling the important message that family isn’t always the stereotypical nuclear unit. A film that even the biggest Christmas cynic can enjoy, there’s plenty of Christmas cheer, but it’s very much only a welcome backdrop. Fans of the overly cheery classics shouldn’t be disheartened though as there’s enough sweetness to please; you just won’t get indigestion.
We follow the three as both a group and as individuals, each getting to tell their own tales. Chris is hiding a dark secret connected to his career, Ethan is stuck in a rut and Isaac isn’t coping with the idea of fatherhood. The three all bring a different element to the proceedings which, when combined, create a really funny, heartfelt and surprisingly emotional bromance story. Just like Emile Hirsch, Paul Dano and Chris Marquette in The Girl Next Door these old friends are a tripod, without one the other’s full down.
The Night Before Review
There are plenty of laughs, mainly confined to Seth Rogen’s Isaac whose wife gives him a bag full of drugs and a free pass for the evening. Isaac’s follies include a trip to the future, a round of mistaken identity sexting and a drug-induced trip during midnight mass. Joseph Gordon-Levitt brings the charm (as always) and the emotional heart, and gets a chance to stretch his comedy muscles again. He also gets several chances to sing and dance and just show how effortlessly cool he clearly is. He even gets the long hair back for some flashback sequences, yes 3rd Rock from the Sun fans, Tommy’s back – well kind of.
Not content to just be another attempt at a holiday film The Night Before pays homage to pretty much every Christmas film ever invented, in addition to just some really good films. It’s peppered with references to Big, The Shining, Home Alone, It’s a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol and even the granddaddy of all Christmas time films, Die Hard. As well as heaping a sleigh full of nods to films of Christmas past there are some great cameos and supporting players. Lizzy Caplan is Ethan’s ex, Diana, Mindy Kaling her BFF, and Michael Shannon steals the show as Mr. Green, the groups go-to drug dealer. He faces stiff competition from James Franco and Miley Cyrus but his role is so cryptic and kooky that you can’t help but be won over by him.
The Night Before Review
The perfect balance of Christmas cheer and real-life bitterness The Night Before embraces the festive fun without getting bogged down with schmaltz. It’s fantastically funny and endearingly charming; an instant Christmas tradition.
The Night Before arrives in UK cinemas on Friday 4th December.
