"The Night Before" - Review

'Tis the Season to Get Wrecked

Seth Rogen and his buddies love to make movies about lovable morons getting into shenanigans while also getting really stoned, whether they are surviving the apocalypse or they are trying to assisinate foreign world dictators. This formula has worked surprisingly well for them and they have produced many fairly successful films. While they may not always tread new ground, they have always been entertaining. "The Night Before" is Seth Rogen and companys' first foray into the Christmas movie genre and again their raunchy tastes in humor are put to good use, but this time around there is the surprise of a heartwarming story and character dynamic. It is this character dynamic and clever script that gives the typical drug related and raunchy humor a welcome warm tone that is perfect for the holidays and is a treat for anyone who could use a good laugh that is backed up with genuine heart.

Director Jonathan Levine previously teamed with Seth Rogen and Joseph Gordon-Levitt for the 50/50 which also had a great balance of heart and humor. The Night Before is definitely closer to the tone of something like Pineapple Express in regards to the humor, but once again Levine proves his skill at entertaining conflicting genres while also staying true to each one. The premise is a simple "three bros have a crazy night" set up, but each character is carefully defined and is given well written

lovely emotional arcs that have solid payoff in the end and is effectively heartwarming. The film has a very clever twist on the "ghost of Christmas past, present, and future" device from A Christmas Carol that allows the characters to have fully developed stories while not being at the expense of being funny. This ghost in question is one of the film's many awesome cameos, this one in particular being extremely inspired and out of left field. These scenes, which will not be spoiled here, provide some of the biggest laughs and some of the sweetest revelations. It's a blend that's done extremely well and is sure to be very crowd pleasing.

All in all, this was a very surprising and welcome holiday film that is a very nice escapist alternative to all of the big "Oscar films" that are typically rampant during the winter season leading up to the end of the year. While it may be as laugh out loud funny as other comedies this year, the genuine heart and the authenticity of the characters and their relationships (not to mention very welcome developed female roles for the side characters to the male protagonists) more than make up for that and result in a very satisfying crowd-pleaser that seems to be destined for a long shelf life as a holiday favorite.

Grade: A-.