‘The Night Before’ Unscripted: Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Anthony Mackie

It takes a look at three old friends and a wild night that they will remember for the rest of their lives.

“In NY City for their annual tradition of Christmas Eve debauchery, three lifelong best friends set out to find the Holy Grail of Christmas parties since their yearly reunion might be coming to an end”.

Despite the fact that two members of the trip have new priorities, the three friends agree to one last holiday bash – mostly so Isaac and Chris can let Ethan down easy before they move on with their lives. Quite the opposite: it embraces them, co-opting classic Christmas motifs and turning them into something completely its own. How is it that Chris has become so famous at this stage in his life? They’re both concerned that Ethan is never going to get his own life together, and they’re starting to give up on their friend.

The only problem is the address isn’t on the invites and they have to find the right place as they traverse the streets of Manhattan. He’s the out-of-control lunatic of this merry threesome, and Rogen’s zonked-to-insanity performance is the lifeblood of The Night Before, giving it the sort of joyous, madcap energy that comes from letting loose with one’s closest comrades, even to the point of potential oblivion. “I always drank too much, but I also made a really strong connection with friends”. “Christmas Jews” is the technical term Levine uses, and as much as he loved working the Hanukkah and Christmas angles when it came to gifts, he found there was little to do after the last one was opened. The crowd which appreciates his makeshift, sometimes cheap, situational one-liners highly packed into movies like Pineapple Express and This Is The End need not fear – they’re stuffed in The Night Before like a snug Christmas stocking. So while you’ll probably be laughing your ass off during most of The Night Before, there’s a good chance you’ll shed a few tears as well.

Rogen, Gordon-Levitt, and Mackie in ‘The Night Before’. It feels like this is important for Gordon-Levitt, playing this kind of normal and identifiable lead, after his hyper-whimsical and super-French turn in “The Walk”, which was apparently rejected outright by audiences.

Considering that Gordon-Levitt is known for more ambitious characters like Inception’spoint man Arthur, it is testament to his versatility that he fits so naturally into the Christmas sweater of an emotionally stunted slacker whose most lucrative employment gig is as a seasonal department store elf. More than anything, “The Night Before” works as a celebration of the way we all lean on the people around us, particularly during the holidays, and the value of being able to lean on our community.

In all honesty, It’s not entirely surprising that the film is anchored by the death of Ethan’s (Gordon-Levitt) parents, as Levine has a history of balancing humor with tragedy and heartbreak.

The Night Before hits USA theaters this Friday, November 20th.