The Night Before (101 Minutes)
“Have you seen that funny Christmas movie?” My mom asked one night, after dinner, during some holiday week a few years ago. She pulls up The Night Before (2015) on the TV and gestures, “Have you?” I had never even heard of it, but agreed to watch it. Generally speaking, I trust her taste. My mom is a movie lover and is, without a doubt, the person I inherited my love for movies from. In our house not every movie had to be enjoyed critically, we just wanted to be entertained and laugh a little while spending some time on the couch. The Night Before falls neatly into the entertainment category while still having enough poignancy to carry its weight as a Christmas movie.
Every Christmas Eve, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Seth Rogen), and Chris (Anthony Mackie) get together to enjoy the traditions they put into place the year that Ethan’s parents passed away. The Night Before takes place on their 10th and last Christmas as they’re all now in their thirties and their lives are naturally moving in other directions. Ethan is a musician working dead end jobs, Isaac has a baby on the way and Chris is struggling to maintain his newfound NFL fame. What ensues is a memorable (read: crazy) night out fueled by Ethan’s desire to reunite with his ex-girlfriend Diana (Lizzy Caplan), Isaac’s incredible drug trip, and Chris’ desire to stay relevant with his impressive colleagues.
While on the surface it isn’t particularly special, this movie has worked its way into my annual Christmas movie watchlist. Partly because of its ease, simple humor and re-watchability. It’s an anxiety free movie. Unlike something like White Christmas, a movie I have watched every year since I was 10, that still annoys me with secondhand stress when Betty takes off and changes her life after a little misunderstanding. Every year I contemplate just fast forwarding through it.
Reviews for the movie were mixed and even though it did well at the box office it didn’t make a splash because it came out alongside a James Bond flick and the Hunger Games sequel. Most of the negative reviews sighted immaturity and offensive jokes which, in 2015, to what are they comparing this? Against Elf? Sure that argument makes sense. Against something like This Is The End (2013) and The Interview (2014)? Night Before is pretty light fodder for Seth Rogen. I am someone who can definitely get bored with stoner humor, but I actually find him pretty enjoyable in this. That said, I do think he gets a big helping hand from Jillian Bell who plays his wife Betsy. Bell’s dry humor, patience, and relatability get me every time. In fact, the supporting cast of this movie carry a lot of the humor weight. Jillian Bell, Lizzy Caplan, Mindy Kaling, and Michael Shannon offset the chaotic humor coming off of Rogen, and lift up the rather neutral performances of Gordon-Levitt and Mackie. They all serve as great humor equalizers and the movie is so much better for it. They guide the tone. I will never not laugh at Jillian Bell yelling “Drip. Drop.” in a strip club.
Doing the opposite of this work are the weird-ish cameos from James Franco and Miley Cyrus that make this movie scream: 2015! 2015! It feels rapidly dated in our post-pandemic world. I just read an interesting article in NYMag about the making of Fleishman Is In Trouble and how much harder it was to make a period piece for 2016, than say, the 1960s. The changes are subtle from far away, but as we get closer they become that much more complicated. The Night Before lives in this strange era that we have yet to fully define. What are distinct characteristics of 2015? I’m not sure, but I do know that James Franco and Miley Cyrus (with pixie cut) are up there on the list.
This movie also has the ability to feel poignant and that may be specifically because I am a “30-something”. My friends are all at varying levels of “success” and in varying stages of life (buying home, having babies, having careers). I am more familiar with the challenges that these characters face than say-- a family comedy. Ethan, Isaac, and Chris live in that very gray area between youthfulness and adulthood. The beginning and the end of so many things. This is especially true as they are New York City adults. In the city we grow up a little slower than most. I love the few moments where two friends pair off to talk about the third, non-present, friend. The knowing that you need to tell your good friend that they’re fucking up their life or perhaps not making the best decisions while simultaneously wishing you could do literally anything else instead, is both very realistic and emotional. We want to keep having a good time in our thirties-- but life just keeps on life-ing.
I’ll wrap up by saying this movie takes place over the course of 24-hours. I love a condensed timeline and it is one of my favorite script structures. The guys make their way around the city engaging in some familiar Christmas traditions (seeing the tree in Rockefeller Center) and some not so (karaoke). The city is very forgiving in this movie and actually serves as a gentle ally rather than a hurdle as it does in most movies of the same vein. In fact, after the guys are split up by their various storylines (there’s really no other explanation for it), they meet up at the F train. Punctually. And without any trouble. That’s poetic.
Sure, the threads of this movie start to unravel towards the end. Sure, Seth Rogen’s hallucinations after doing a bunch of shrooms are silly. And.. sure, we have our shitty cameos and things get more fantastical with Michael Shannon’s character. BUT I always forgive its faults because it’s Christmastime. And it’s the season of forgiveness, of laughter, and of doing every drug on the planet all at once.
Thank you for reading The 90-Minute Movie. This post is public so feel free to share it.
ncG1vNJzZmismJqGcbnIp6ytnZ2kw6qxjaysm6uklrCsesKopGioX6m1pnnNop6hrF2Xsqe70Z5kamhhYrqqutStnKw%3D