The Night Before is kind of a grab bag, a trail mix of a movie that is equal parts delicious (chocolate and cashews) and disappointing (banana chips and raisins). Presented as a Christmas fable for adults, complete with a rhyming narration by Tracy Morgan, The Night Before is an account of the timeless annual tradition of getting messed up with your friends on Christmas Eve.
For 14 years Ethan, Isaac and Chris (Gordon-Levitt, Rogen and Mackie) have made it their yearly custom to traipse about town wearing ugly X-mas sweaters, doing Run-D.M.C. karaoke and generally drinking heavily. On this, their agreed-upon last adventure, as the once 20-something rapscallions are now 30-something adults with a kid on the way (Isaac), and a suspiciously late-blooming football career (Chris), the brothers three embark to find their one white whale: the exclusive, the elusive Nutcracker Ball. Luckily, Ethan stole three tickets while working as a coat-check elf.
Shades of The World’s End, minus the alien-robots, color the three friends’ journey. While Ethan plays morose and lovelorn, Isaac ingests probably too many hallucinogens, and Chris endorses Red Bull and feigns frustration at fending off his fawning fans. The three leads’ onscreen chemistry is adequate, but they rarely deviate from these one-note modes, and the friendship is less relatable for it.
Fortunately, there are more than a few mixed nuts that show up along the way. Mindy Kaling, Nathan Fielder, Michael Shannon, Jason Mantzoukas and by far the best Grinch since the original, Broad City’s Ilana Glazer, all add their own much-welcomed flavor. Lizzy Kaplan is believable as the obligatory love interest but she is outshined by Jillian Bell, who is hilarious as Isaac’s pregnant, drug-providing wife. There are a few other notable cameos, but to reveal them would be like opening your presents before Christmas morning.
With some classic references to early iPods, Goldeneye on N64 and ill-advised beard ponytails, this film is almost tailor-made for those of us who were born in the early ’80s and are still trying to figure out adulthood. For that reason, I did enjoy The Night Before, but it still tries too hard to cram a buddy movie, a party movie, a rom-com, a drug-com, a man-child maturation movie and a Christmas-miracle movie all into one bag, resulting in—to draw out an already belabored extended metaphor—a trail mix with eight ingredients where five will do. Be thankful for the chocolate and cashews.
