While not a classic Christmas movie, “The Night Before” has everything you need in one: holiday cheer and excitement, a snowy New York City, a Christmas party, Christmas music, ugly sweaters and most importantly, Seth Rogen. “The Night Before” may not be exactly family friendly as it does feature the usage of “every single drug in the whole world,” but it’s perfect for people above 17 years old who want a funny and ultimately heartfelt holiday film.
Like many movies, “The Night Before” focuses on friendship as people get older. The main characters, Isaac, played by Seth Rogen, Ethan, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Chris, played by Anthony Mackie, are friends from highschool now in their thirties. The film begins with the story of their Christmas eve traditions and how they came to be. We are introduced to Chris and Isaac comforting Ethan after his parents both passed away in a car accident. It only takes a few seconds for the mood to change once the group starts their night of fun. We see them having a blast at first and searching for the Nutcracker Ball, a legendary, but highly exclusive party that they heard about during one of their nights out. Each year, they complete their traditions and search for the party, while slowly losing interest due to their changing lives.
We learn that the present day is their last time doing this tradition, as Isaac is a married lawyer and soon-to-be father, Chris is a football player with new found success and Ethan is an aspiring, unmotivated musician. Ethan is clearly the only one keeping the tradition alive as his two friends have mutually decided to end it, claiming they were ready to end it years ago. They feel as though they are enabling Ethan and in doing so, they’re preventing him from coming to terms with reality. Although that’s the only thing Isaac and Chris mention in explaining why they no longer want to participate in the tradition, it’s clear they’re also just more busy now and aren’t as interested in putting in the extra work it takes to stay friends with people as you get older. Chris and Isaac are tangled up in their own lives and nearly ruin their last celebration together because of it. Isaac is on a spirit quest which leads to him losing his phone and in turn running around the city trying to find it to prevent his marriage from ending, despite his friends repeatedly telling him his marriage is not in danger, but he is on drugs so one can reason why he felt the need to abandon his friends to find his phone. Chris is obsessed with appearing cool now that he’s famous, and in doing so abandons his friends in order to impress his new famous friends. Ethan, a poor decision maker, is ruining the night by being jealous and clingy towards his friends. They each have their own issues and stuff going on and it seems like it’s going to ruin the night.
Ultimately what saves the night is Miley Cyrus, which is no surprise, along with some Christmas spirit and learned lessons I suppose. They realize that although it gets harder to stay connected as you get older, it’s very important to put in the effort to continue being friends. That doesn’t mean you have to continue doing the same things as when you were in college, and traditions can change. The real tradition was them spending time together during the holidays, which is a particularly tough time for Ethan. Another lesson that I found quite important considering it was coming from a high Rogen on zero hours of sleep was that you shouldn’t let something bad that happened to you ruin your life. He says it best: “You have a good reason to be making excuses, it’s just kind of ruining your life.”
On the surface Isaac and Chris have it together, whereas Ethan is the only one holding himself back and struggling to succeed in life. However, we soon learn a lot of the perceived togetherness is a guise. Isaac is scared about becoming a father, but feels like he must pretend to be calm and be his wife’s rock. Chris is excited about his new success as an athlete, but he’s changing himself to fit in with his teammates. They all have their issues that make it harder to stay connected and stay friends, so they have to work on their personal problems as well. This Christmas lesson is learned in a very natural way to me, and in a fun high-energy manner that is very entertaining, as films should be.
This wonderful film also features plenty of references to classic Christmas movies, with tributes to “Home Alone,” “The Grinch,” “Die Hard” and of course “The Shining.” So if you enjoy pretty holiday lights in NYC while three friends figure out their evolving relationship set to Christmas songs and “Wrecking Ball,” then this movie might just make your holiday watchlist.