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"The Night Before" is a Christmas movie with heart. A wildly profane, drug-addled, hedonistic Christmas movie with a heart.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Ethan, a sad sack of sorts in his early 30s who has never gotten over deaths of his parents just before the holiday when he was 19. He spends every Christmas Eve with his pals Isaac (Seth Rogen) and Chris (Anthony Mackie) looking for the greatest party ever, the Nutcracka Ball, without success. Until this year.
Their holiday traditions include donning excruciatingly bad Christmas sweaters, doing profane karaoke, making like Tom Hanks in "Big" at FAO Schwarz and — this year — trying to buy pot so NFL player Chris can impress the star quarterback. Which puts them back in contact with Mr. Green (Michael Shannon), their dealer back when they were in high school — and Mr. Green is sort of a New Age philosopher.
"The Night Before" is not just a search for that party, it's Ethan looking for love with Diana (Lizzy Caplan), the girl he shouldn't have dumped. It's a bit of a coming-of-age tale. And it's hilarious, with both an edge and an enormous soft side.
The film is full of cameos, from Tracy Morgan to James Franco to Mindy Kaling as Diana's friend, who accurately states, "No one wants to drink cocaine blood," after Isaac's nosebleed drips into her martini. That's before the completely drugged-out expectant father and Jewish Isaac busts up midnight Mass.
At the same church service, Isaac is convinced that an infant is dropping f-bombs in his direction. Which is completely in character with the sense of humor of "The Night Before."
Oh, and Miley Cyrus shows up as Miley Cyrus, and she's freakin' hilarious. Really.
Writer/director Jonathan Levine ("50/50, "The Wackness") has created a Christmas stoner comedy that's sweet and subversive, all at the same time.
Twitter: @ScottDPierce —
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'The Night Before'
Three buddies (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie) spend Christmas Even looking for the greatest party of all time.
When • Opens Friday, Nov. 20
Rating • R for language, nudity, drugs and some violence
Running time • 101 minutes