Let's be honest here...Rough Night is probably the most unoriginal idea to hit theaters this summer. It has the storyline of Peter Berg's 1998 film Very Bad Things with a Weekend at Bernie's twist. Starring Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon and Zoe Kravitz, the film's star power seems to have no shortage but the film's screenplay doesn't know what it wants to be. There are far too few thrills to classify it a thriller and, as far comedy is concerned, it is severely lacking. So we're given this cookie-cutter film that does its job (more or less).
The film opens Hangover style, it introduces us to the gang of girls as they make their way to the bachelorette weekend to end all bachelorette weekends. Scarlett Johasson plays the bride to be while her bridesmaids are either overly sexual or prudes. There is not much of an in-between. No character felt real. They all felt like they were written specific to this event and that really didn't bode well with me. In a situational comedy like this, it helps to have a character we can relate to. This film really doesn't have a relateable character, just mere pawns in the film's game. The story itself moves pretty well through it's self proclaimed rough night but doesn't really latch on to you as a viewer. You're pretty much there to watch the ride...nothing else.
The cast here is probably the best part of the film. Between the gravitas Johansson brings to the screen and the intrigue of Zoe Kravitz and the off the wall banter from Kate McKinnon, it would be a lie if I said they weren't at least fun to watch. The problem the film has is its dialog. If the film's goal wasn't to promote feminism and a pro-female image, I'd say it is passable. But the film portrays women either as sex-crazed drunkards or uptight prudes and coming off of Wonder Woman, this film seems like a slap in the face. Maybe it is poor timing or maybe it is true, only time will tell.
Overall, the film isn't horrible. It features good performances from Kate McKinnon and Scarlett Johansson and makes the best of its boderline terrible script. It sustains its 101 minute runtime and fills them with countless penis jokes (Jillian Bell relies on them annoyingly too much) and features some decent moments of situational comedy that could have landed way better but they still land nonetheless. Either way, it is a passable film but not one that I'd recommend spending money to see in the theater.
