Mario’s Musings (Christmas Edition): The Night Before
Look, I’ll be honest; I’m a sucker for anything that has Seth Rogen in it. That said Rogen in a Christmas movie was a sure fire way for me to see this in theaters back in 2015.
Was I expecting a funny movie? Yes. Was I expecting a movie that I would go out of my way to watch every year around the holiday season? Absolutely not. This movie ended up joining the ranks of A Muppet Christmas Carol, Scrooged, Home Alone, Bad Santa, Die Hard, Elf, the Ref, and the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogies (they came out in December so I always associated them with the holiday season) on my go to holiday watch lists.
What’s the story of the Night Before? Well, it’s the night before Christmas, and three friends; played by Seth Rogen (Isaac), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Ethan), and Anthony Mackie (Chris), embark on their yearly Christmas Eve bar crawl, a tradition started in 2001 after Ethan loses his parents in a car accident. While out one year, they run into a couple who had just come back from a party called the Nutcracker Ball, an exclusive party that is apparently all the rage held once a year. The friends try to find the party every year, but to no avail.
Of course, as is life, friends’ lives take different path; in the case of Isaac, he’s married and expecting a child, and with Chris, he’s in the NFL. Unfortunately for Ethan, he’s in a bit of a rut as a musician and in relationships, working dead end jobs. But fate takes a turn when he finds tickets to the Nutcracker Ball while at work, and on what would be the very last night of their yearly tradition.
Imagine having this job knowing one of your best friends is in the NFL.
So the movie follows their one last adventure, and it brings to light the friends’ grievances with one another that have built up over the year, and for someone like me, was honestly relatable considering I at one point felt left behind. I won’t get into the nitty gritty of my personal life, but for a while I related to Ethan’s situation a great deal, so I knew what he felt as he watched his two best friends move on in life.
Personal relatability aside, this movie is hilarious (the scene at midnight mass is worth the price of admission alone). JGL plays the straight man to Rogen and Mackie’s larger than life personalities. Rogen brings his usual shtick to the film, but with the added twist of being somewhat reluctant to actually do it. Mackie brings in an attempt to be larger than life thanks to his character’s new found fame, but it’s mostly a front to cover up something else. Michael Shannon as their high school pot dealer is also a fun delight.
Want to add something fun to your holiday watch list? Give this a try.