The Night Before (2015)

On Christmas Eve, three lifelong friends spend the night in New York City looking for the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.

Director:

Jonathan Levine

Writers:

Jonathan Levine (screenplay), Kyle Hunter (screenplay)

Stars:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen, Jillian Bell

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Ethan
Seth Rogen	...	Isaac
Anthony Mackie	...	Chris
Jillian Bell	...	Betsy
Lizzy Caplan	...	Diana
Heléne Yorke	...	Cindy (as Helene Yorke)
Michael Shannon	...	Mr. Green
Mindy Kaling	...	Sarah
Ilana Glazer	...	Rebecca Grinch
Aaron Hill	...	Tommy Owens
Tracy Morgan	...	Narrator / Santa
Darrie Lawrence	...	Nana
Nathan Fielder	...	Joshua
James Franco	...	James Franco
Miley Cyrus	...	Miley Cyrus

Storyline

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 ending, and to make it as memorable as possible, they set out to find the Nutcracka Ball--the Holy Grail of Christmas parties.

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Plot Keywords:

christmas | christmas party | new york city | male frontal nudity | drug dealer | 

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Taglines:

The perfect stoner's Xmas movie.

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Genres:

Comedy | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for drug use and language throughout, some strong sexual content and graphic nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 November 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Night Before

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$9,880,536, 22 November 2015

Gross USA:

$43,047,372

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$52,395,996

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures, Good Universe, LStar Capital

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Lizzy Caplan and Helene York have worked together previously in Masters of Sex (2013).

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Goofs

When they are in Manhattan and getting on the F Train at Church Avenue the location is incorrect. The Church Avenue station is located in the neighborhood of Kensington in Brooklyn, Ny.

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Quotes

Chris: [after slipping on assorted objects] She Home Alone'd me!

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Crazy Credits

The movie opens with the 1981 Columbia Pictures logo.

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Funny Seth Rogen Movie Moments (2018)

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Soundtracks

All Around the World (Let's Keep Dancing)
Written by Nate James and David Gaston Green
Performed by JG Daydream
By arrangement with PEN Music Group, Inc.

User Reviews

'The Night Before' a gift for those on the naughty list

Winter is the season audiences are forced to unwrap gifts of the latest Holiday- themed movie offerings. The taped wrapping paper – festive and jolly in it's presentation – causes the viewer to squint from the boisterous colors, like nursing a terrible hangover from downing an excessive amount of eggnog the night before. The films are usually lackluster efforts, forcing the message of 'joy to the world' down the consumers throat like a stale and unwanted candy cane left over from a Christmas past.

Watching 'The Night Before' – the latest offering from talented director Jonathan Levine (Warm Bodies, 50/50) – is like Santa fulfilling all your wants on a Christmas list, despite being very naughty all year.

Seth Rogen, Anthony Mackie, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt star as three friends – a comedic parallel of the biblical three wise men – whom reunite each Christmas Eve to stage various shenanigans. After Ethan's (Levitt) parents tragically pass away, Isaac (Rogen) and Chris (Mackie) step in to assume the mother and father role for the wayward youth. Several years later, the trio receive lumps of coal in their stockings in the form of adulthood – Isaac is an expecting father; Chris is a social media famous football player, juicing up to stay relevant; Ethan is a retailer belittled in an elf costume, unable to let go of his morbid past.

The shifts of maturity have made them distant from one another; with their lives moving in different directions, they decide this Xmas reunion will be their last together. Mischief abounds when Ethan discovers tickets for the "Nutcracker Ball" in a patrons clothing at a coat check- a fabled party that the boys have sought to attend since they originally started the tradition.

Rogan steals the show. When Isaac's wife slips him a hodgepodge of various illegal substances as reward for being a devoted husband, Rogan displays each violent hallucination with hilarious intensity.

There are plenty of 'Ho Ho Hos' to go around, and the sleigh-loads of laughs lasts the entire movie – a rarity in comedies when the third act is usually a reprieve for various characters to have epiphanies and change their lives.

'The Night Before' is destined to be a Christmas cult classic akin to 'Bad Santa'.