In the vein of Bad Santa and National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation comes this strictly-for-adults Christmas-themed comedy that, going by the fantastic trailer alone, you would expect to be filled to the brim with hearty entertainment. Unfortunately The Night Before is one of those saddening experiences in which the trailer features all of the good bits and, worse still, even those moments aren't that funny once put into context. Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anthony Mackie play three mates who have celebrated Christmas together ever since high school– with tacky annual traditions and all – but are now heading in different directions. These genuinely hilarious actors throw everything but the kitchen sink at the screen in an effort to lift the otherwise lacklustre material, yet witnessing their effortless chemistry only underscores how much of a wasted opportunity this movie really is. As one of four scribes and the sole director, Jonathan Levine has to shoulder a large portion of the blame. There are jokes that fall so flat it's curious as to how Levine let them slide, both before and during production. The tone is also extremely wonky, veering from crude humour to mawkish sentimentality with the flip of a switch. These sudden mood changes muddy the aim of the film entirely and result in lengthy periods of corny emotion. Oh, and watching Rogen high on drugs has already worn exceptionally thin, so whoever decided it would be a good idea to have him strung out on mushrooms and cocaine for the whole movie should be banned from Hollywood. A nearly completely laugh-free affair (save for an amusing cameo late in the piece), The Night Before squanders its potential and ensures its place alongside any number of Vince Vaughn-led Yuletide yarns.
Review of The Night Before
