The Night Before

This review may contain spoilers!

Not only is this the worst comedy of the year but it's probably in amongst some of the worst Christmas films of all time. I would give The Night Before a 2/10.

I did enjoy some of the humour that was used in this film, there were some incredibly well done jokes that landed pretty well.

Seth Rogen, who played Isaac, was one of the only leads in this film who felt comedic; despite being plagued with one of the worst plotlines of the film Rogen really presented some fantastic delivery in this film. Anthony Mackie, who played Chris Roberts, was entertaining as the 'celebrity' of the group; I liked the moral conflict behind his character's use of steroids. Lizzy Caplan, who played Diana, was a really good leading actress; she played a very natural, genuine role which was what this film desperately needed at times. Tracy Morgan, who played The Narrator/Santa, was a really funny intro and outro to the film; this was one of the few times that being absurdly wacky worked for the film rather than against it. Nathan Fielder, who played Joshua, was one of the better minor roles of the film; his chemistry with Mackie was great and the car chase sequence was probably one of the best scenes of the film. Miley Cyrus, who played herself, was an enjoyable appearance in the film; I enjoyed how candidly she took on some self-deprecating humour. Randall Park, who played the Boss, was a really good cameo in this film; he brought together one of the very few funny scenes that had Joseph Gordon-Levitt in it.

However the best performance came from James Franco, who played himself. Franco was only a cameo role in this film but the minute he was onscreen you felt like the film had just taken an adrenaline shot to the heart. Everything was a lot more entertaining the minute he and Rogen started working their brilliant chemistry. I loved this payoff of the Isaac getting dick pics subplot, it was one of the best set ups of the film.

This film relies heavily on crafting a story about someone who lost their parents, but you never really feel the emotional weight of that aspect; in fact the main character is kind of dislikeable. Frankly every plotline in this film gets a botched lazy treatment; Mackie's steroid abuse is never explored and Rogen's fear of parenting expressed through a drug trip is a subplot that is both strange and weak. This film doesn't take itself seriously but not in a good way; it's like watching the successful guy in high school become a crackhead. To even talk about pacing is a joke as this film didn't seem to have a sense of direction at any point of the film. The soundtrack for this film is completely all over the place; a very clear attempt to get cheap laughs through musical humour. The cinematography is pretty basic, the director didn't seem to be trying anything special with this film. The editing made me cringe at several points, the scene transitions felt like Windows Movie Maker cuts.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who played Ethan, was an awful lead for this film; I think I could count the number of times Gordon-Levitt made me laugh on one hand. Jillian Bell, who played Betsy, was quite an artificial performance; the worst thing was that she had no chemistry with Rogen at all. Michael Shannon, who played Mr Green, just presented this character that was too bizarre to enjoy; I don't know what the film really hoped to achieve with this weak Christmas Carol tribute. Ilana Glazer, who played Rebecca Grinch, was a weak antagonist for this film; she stole stuff and beyond that had no developed character. Aaron Hill, who played Tommy Owens, wasn't a very interesting character; he had zero chemistry with Mackie who was the only realy reason he had any purpose in this film. Mindy Kaling, who played Sarah, was a really annoying performance; she fell quite short beside the likes of Caplan, Rogen and Franco. Lorraine Toussaint, who played Mrs Roberts, didn't really have much presence in this film; this is a true shame because with a few more scenes she could have potentially stood out in this film.