The Night Before

This is one of those fun movies that you forget about for 11 months of the year and then when you are scrolling through looking for a movie over Christmas and sure enough, you watch it and love it all over again.

There are plot holes in this, but don't think too hard, just enjoy it. It is a sweet premise for a movie of friends helping friends and holding up a tradition. Seth Rogan high on every drug under the sun is always fun to watch.

But the highlight of this movie is Michael Shannon. His weird creepy intense vibe works so well in this and I can't stop laughing every time he is on screen.

Seth Rogen is a rather intelligent producer. He and his pals (including Evan Goldberg, James Franco, Mindy Kaling, Lizzy Caplan, Randall Park etc.) have created an unusual semi-surreal kind of weird comedies, like "The interview" and "This is the end".

In The Night Before (2015/II) (because there is another (2015/I) movie with the same name in 2015 starring David Faustino!)...3 friends spend every Xmas together in search for a great party and having a good time. The dramatic element here is that one of them lost his parents in a car accident and the other 2 are trying to be supportive.

The problem is that this movie seems like it is designed to provoke, even shock. Trying to extrude laughter through harsh and dramatic situations without actually entering the limits of a black comedy.

Drugs and "tripping" play a major part in the movie. A tone of supernatural. And of course sex and relationships and friendships, the "bro" kind. Yet there are a lot to be desired and a major part of the film, although uneven, takes the lead and makes lifelong friendship to seem like it is just an excuse for some crude jokes like blood from a dripping nose into someone's drink or vomiting into a church during Xmas mass.

Overall: You wont be missing much if you avoid to see this. In the end, the basic idea of bro-friendship seems like an excuse from some surreal gags.

I need to watch more holiday movies this month and this randomly popped up on my feed. I don't know why I didn't watch this in theaters because it was pretty funny. You can tell a lot of the jokes were improvised on the spot (which I love) and Michael Shannon might be my favorite thing about it.

I'm a pretty tough critic when it comes to movies in general, with comedies' standards differing a bit. I was very pleasantly surprised with this movie. I expected it to be pretty funny, but nothing special. I came away thinking it was pretty funny; but also found it to have a lot of heart and actually/shockingly, quite thought provoking. As I get older, relationships with friends are becoming confusing, complicated, and frankly quite difficult. And this movie hit on that really well. I also thought Mr. Green was an amazing character; and he's now a bit of a personal cult favorite of mine id say. This goes down as one of my three or four favorite Christmas movies.

I was reluctant to see the film. I heard it was vulgar and tasteless. I saw bad santa in the day, and although it was filthy and offensive, I laughed a lot. the night before is neither vulgar or tasteless. it's just nothing. no one in the theater laughed, no one walked out. I actually couldn't give it a number. seth rogen is, well, seth rogan. no acting stretch of any kind. Joseph gorden levitt, who reminds me a great deal of a young johnny depp (pre-stardom), is totally wasted, no pun, here. I was hoping for laughs and instead was wondering what the film maker had in mind. I couldn't tell. I know movies are subjective and we all don't see the same movie. reviews are mixed. I wanted to laugh. no luck there.