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On Christmas eve, three lifelong friends, two of whom are Jewish, spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.
I have to admit I’m a sucker for the holiday season. From October 1st I’m slowly gearing myself up for the full-blown Christmas spirit to wash over me. And there’s no better way to get in the Christmas spirit than watching a Christmas movie. And when combined with the elements of a twinkling drug fueled adventure magic does indeed happen. Johnathan Levine’s “The Night Before,” is about as drug fueled and magical as it gets, especially for those of us who spent our best childhood years in the 80s/90s and are now currently going through the quarter life crisis, living in the deepest depths of nostalgia.
Isaac (Seth Rogen), Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), and Chris (Anthony Mackie) are childhood friends, and after the tragic passing of Ethan’s parents, the trio started a Christmas Eve tradition full of ugly sweaters, FAO Schwarz, Chinese food, karaoke, and general Christmas mischief ripe with booze and other enhancers, with their eyes being on the forever elusive and highly sought after Nutcracka Ball. After a decade of Christmas revelry, the trio decide that this will be the final year of the tradition, as babies are to be had, and careers to be made.
Isaac and his wife Betsy (Jillian Bell) are expecting their first child together, Chris is a football celebrity and social media obsessive, while Ethan is an unknown musician working odd jobs and making excuses for his life. While Ethan is eternally enthused by this Christmas tradition, Isaac and Chris are less so and desire to push Ethan in the direction of fully blossomed adulthood, despite their own adult anxieties pervading their lives. But with some stolen tickets, luck, and a blessed psychedelic present everyone is on high and ready to encounter all that is thrown at them, including but not limited to: a grinchy girl, blood martinis, a trip to the manger, and a visionary man with some green and a pipe.
Seth Rogen is the centerpiece of the film, ridiculously funny as the over-drugged friend who has some serious doubts about bringing a child into the world. Even though the comedy is the same old rehashed stuff from previous films such as “Knocked Up” and “This is the End,” it doesn’t seem to matter because it is still funny. It’s kind of like fast food, you know it’s not the best food in the world, but it’s comforting, it does the trick and you keep coming back for more. I know that I will not be enlightened philosophically or spiritually by these films, but I can almost guarantee that I will nearly asphyxiate from laughing too hard.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie partake in their fair share of this holiday misadventure, although less so than Rogen. The only minor disappointment of the film was how little Jillian Bell and Mindy Kaling were utilized as they have the potential to be as equally hilarious as the main cast.
All the best elements from other Christmas classics are woven into this boys coming of age adult adventure. Kids of the 80s & 90s unite with glee as you bask in the glory that is Run-DMC’s “Christmas in Hollis,” the glitterings of “Home Alone” references, and the ultimate nostalgia that is Nintendo 64’s “Goldeneye.” While “The Night Before,” may, for some, be a rehash of the same immature stoner misadventures of the films before it, it will nevertheless bring about Christmas cheer and a surprisingly peculiar and intense Michael Shannon in a Christmas classic role, which that alone is worth seeing.
In theaters November 20th
