The Night Before: This movie is actually good

What a cool poster
by columbia pictures

Finally, a non-shitty comedy hits the big screen

On Saturday, Nov. 28, I made the trek to Galaxy Cinemas with some friends to watch The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2. It was sold out. So, after lying in the fetal position in the middle of the ticket lineup for a few minutes crying in utter disappointment, I collected myself. In the end, my friends and I decided to go see The Night Before.

Not going to lie, I thought this movie was going to be one of those stupid comedies that you think is going to be funny, but it actually doesn’t turn out to be funny, so you end up wasting two hours of your life and far too much money. Thank goodness gracious this was not the case with The Night Before. This comedy was actually good!

Honestly, I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard at a movie ever. If you go see this movie and do not find it funny, you have no sense of humour and probably no soul. The Night Before focuses on three friends – Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Seth Rogen), and Chris Roberts (Anthony Mackie) – who have taken part in wild, drunken Christmas Eve festivities since childhood. But now that Isaac is about to become a father and Chris Roberts is at the peak of his football career, the three friends decide that their Christmas Eve tradition must come to an end. So, the film continues to document their last Christmas Eve experience together and their journey to the Nutcracker Ball: the best, most coveted Christmas party in New York.

To me, the funniest part of this whole movie was watching Isaac tweak out on drugs. Since his wife knows this may be the last Christmas Eve party with his friends, she sends him out on the town with a nice, little box of drugs. He proceeds to eats some ‘shrooms, snort a whole lot of cocaine, and ingest some molly. Some of the camera shots show Isaac’s hallucinations. For example, he sees slimy, purple, octopus arms on Chris Robert’s mom, he sees a baby in church turn to him and say, “Fuck you,” and he sees his wife as a dragon. I literally almost died laughing watching this guy’s trips. And, the one-liners. So many good one-liners throughout the whole movie. You have to see it to fully understand how priceless the dialogue is.

As for aesthetics, this film had some killer camera shots, including a variety of solid camera angles that enhanced the film; diverse, eye-catching lighting effects; and great costuming – Isaac wears a Christmas sweater with the Star of David on it; Chris Roberts wears one with a black Santa on it; and Ethan wears one with cute, little reindeer on it. All in all, this movie was visually appealing, minus the full-on dick pics Isaac receives on his friend’s phone. I found this rather disturbing and unnecessary.

Anywho, yes, The Night Before is just a movie of guys doing dumb stuff on Christmas Eve, but, I kid you not, it is legitimately hilarious. It also has purpose because, in the end, each character discovers something about themselves that helps them become better people. Nothing like a little bit of meaningful sappiness amidst the hilarity and debauchery.