I can easily see The Night Before become a Christmas classic. Sure, it's not as touching as It's a Wonderful Life or as romantic as Love Actually but it's basically like Seth Rogen finally got around to making a Christmas film in the vein of Superbad and This is the End. And for millennials and the like, this movie is a ton of fun.
The film centers on three best friends, Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie). Every Christmas Eve, the three friends go out and party in New York City, a tradition that began in their early twenties after Ethan unexpectedly loses his parents to a drunk driving accident. Now, ten years later, Isaac is about to have a child with his wife and Chris is a big time football star so they've decided to retire the tradition and have an epic night out one last time. Their usual traditions include going to Rockefeller Center to see the tree, going to a karaoke bar, eating Chinese food, and generally getting high and wasted.
Much like This is the End, many of the usual suspects pop up in guest roles. Lizzy Caplan plays Diana, Ethan's recent ex, and Mindy Kaling plays Sarah, Diana's friend. James Franco of course makes a cameo as does Miley Cyrus and Tracy Morgan. You can tell they all had a fun time on set and it lends the film some ease and charm alongside its trademark raunchy humor.
Of the three leading men, Seth Rogen steals the show by far as Isaac, the lawyer with a baby on the way. Not only does his pregnant wife Betsy (Jillian Bell) give him permission to have fun that night, but she also gives him a bunch of drugs as a special surprise present. Isaac begins a long drug-fueled night and spirals out of control quickly, freaked out about his impending fatherhood. Rogen stole almost every scene he was in with Isaac high out of his mind and wearing a ridiculous Hanukkah sweater running around New York. A particularly memorable scene (featured in the trailer) has a paranoid, high Isaac caught at midnight mass with his wife, throwing his guts up in the aisle while wearing his Hanukkah sweater.
The movie succeeds much less when it takes itself too seriously. As a Christmas movie, there are plenty of schmaltzy scenes where the guys try and work out their problems, particularly Ethan. While I understand that they were trying to give the film some heart, it often comes across as tedious and unnecessary. While I enjoyed the overall themes of friendship and being unafraid of change, much of Ethan's life lessons learned just seemed to take too much time away from the jokes.
That said, The Night Before is a perfect film for millennials like myself, trying to balance getting older and settling down with the freedom and friendships of younger years. Plus it's just incredibly funny. The Night Before is definitely a film I can see including in my annual Christmas film line-up, even if it's just to watch Seth Rogen freak out in a tacky Hanukkah sweater for 100 minutes
