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| Seth Rogen & Jillian Bell (r) star in The Night Before |
Merry Chrismukkah
Rotten Tomatoes Plot: Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) have been friends since childhood, and for a decade, their yearly Christmas Eve reunion has been an annual night of debauchery and hilarity. Now that they're entering adulthood, the tradition is coming to an end, and to make it as memorable as possible, they set out to find the Nutcracka Ball - the Holy Grail of Christmas.
First, the good news: The Night Before has at least a dozen bonafide laugh-out-loud moments (courtesy of Mackie, Rogen.) Now the bad news: You have to sit through the other 90 minutes or so, to enjoy them. That means heavy doses of an unusually apathetic Gordon-Levitt, silly cameos (Michael Shannon, Miley Cyrus) and disjointed direction (Jonathan Levine.) That's a lot to ask of any critic, especially one (like me) who's had their fill of 30-something stoner films. Still... 'tis the season to be jolly, so why not focus (only) on the good stuff (cocaine, "Runaway," sordid text messages, et al?)
Grade: C+
