Rough Night

Smart and funny. It would probably get better ratings if it were a male cast and a male perspective. Definitely in the same class as The Hangover.

There are loads of negative reviews on this film so I'm here to give a slightly more positive one.

I enjoyed this film. I thought it was funny, entertaining, and the plot was not too predictable. Also, the acting was very impressive.

I watched this on a saturday night, and it made my evening very enjoyable. It's not supposed to be an intellectually challenging film, it's supposed to make you laugh. And it made me laugh a lot. The jokes were well played out, and the main characters were phenomenally acted, and sure- some of the jokes were immature and childish but that was part of the charm of this movie.

Based off of all of the other reviews I had read before watching I was expecting a really mundane film and it wasn't. The plot line was interesting, and even though there were one or two serious scenes I was still very much hooked on what was going on.

This film made me properly laugh out loud, and I really did enjoy it. Sure it wasn't incredible cinematography, and it didn't leave me thinking about the meaning of existence like many of Johanssons more notable films, but it was very enjoyable, and I would watch it again with friends. In fact, this film for me was even with how much I enjoyed bridesmaids, and maybe it's because I love Kate McKinnon and Scarlett Johansson, but I still think that despite the negative reviews this film deserves more love as the laid back comedy it is.

Bachelorette parties, a sacred ritual to help a young woman transition from single life into the world of marriage. Of course, like most things, modern traditions have adulterated with new traditions and rituals that leads for a rather "exciting" night. So why not make another movie about it. Tonight, my friend and I hit the theater to cover the latest comedy to "grace" the big screen entitled Rough Night! What does this obviously titled film have in store for us? As always, please read on to find out and help determine whether or not it is worth your money to hit the theater.

So what do you get? For once the trailers were pretty spot on with their portrayal of this movie. Rough night is a very raunchy, simplistic, and over the top comedy that has little sustenance outside of the attempt at humor. It's ridiculousness at times is clever, but these moments are few and far between, buried under the comedy rubble that fills this movie. Aggressive innuendos come rushing out of the woodwork, many delivered in the overdramatic manner that somehow seems to be popular and entertaining to many. The all-star cast assembled to for this film are okay, dropping their dynamic acting range for superficial roles filled with cursing and satire. Lazy writing also doesn't help sell the comedy factor, primary thanks to the consistent cursing, shouting of the male genitalia, overzealous drug use, and cringe worthy catchphrases. Kate Mickinnon is able to salvage some parts of the film with her usual tricks, working the Australian accent with her pizazz and spot-on timing.

Story wise, nothing special here. Rough Night's plot is about 80% revealed in the trailers and there is little surprise left for you in the audience. Some of the more adult moments will be the eye widening magic you are seeking, but again these are often awkward uncomfortable, or unnecessary. Still the movie's tale had some surprising character development and a nice twist thrown into the mix to help keep things dynamic. The morals hit close to home on some level, but again are robbed by another bout of stupidity. I know, you aren't there for the character developments and rugged plot, but other comedies have learned to balance things and that is where this movie fails.

In the end though here are my likes and dislikes:

LIKES: • Kate McKinnon • Good, upbeat soundtrack • Short Run Time • More dynamic storyline

DISLIKES: • Incredibly stupid • Excessive cursing • Aggressive humor • Trailers Ruined most of the movie • Inappropriate at many times • Shallow story • Annoying characters • Dropped plots • Overacting • Limited target audience

THE VERDICT:

It's nice to see a movie fit the expectations set by the advertising, but it's sad that this is a form of entertainment. Rough night fails to find balance and resorts to cheap parlor tricks known as adult humor. Sure there are clever components (primarily thanks to the boyfriend and Kate), but even they can't save the movie from the monotonous laziness that is to come. kWhy must it be overacted? I don't know, but nevertheless this movie failed on many accounts. Recommended audience members include bachelorettes, girls nights out, or fans of one of the cast. For the rest though, skip this movie until it darkens the library of Netflix.

My scores are:

Comedy: 5.5 Movie Overall: 3.0

Much better than Charlie's angels, and that got higher reviews. Think perhaps most of the low reviews on here are from the same people who didn't appreciate the all female 'ghostbusters'.

I love TV show Broad City and was looking forward to this because two of the creatives behind that show paired up to give us Rough Night. The generic title (a switch from Move that Body which was much more suitable) should have warned me. Rough Night is forgettable and not really that funny.

The movie starts out in 2006 where a group of 4 friends get drunk at Halloween, win a beer pong competition and vow to stay friends forever. Fast forward 10 years and the group is reuniting for Jess's (Scarlett Johansson, bland, bland, bland, comedy is NOT her forte) bachelorette weekend at a fancy house in Miami. They party, snort coke, are joined with Jess's Australian friend Pippa (Kate McKinnon in a role that MUST have been written for Rebel Wilson. Surely?). Her friends decide to get Jess a stripper and here is when things go wrong: high on coke they accidentally end up killing the stripper and things quickly spiral out of control as they first try to do the responsible thing of calling the police and then move on to hiding the body.

There was minor protests before the film being released about the movie making a punchline of killing sex workers but the film could have overcome this and he gruesome premise if not for a few things. First of all the women lack friendship chemistry. I don't believe any of these women were ever friends even if a big part of it is that they are supposed to have drifted apart. Second the casting is all awful. Scarlett is not a comedy actress and neither is Zoe Kravitz and it shows. Without being backed up by her hilariously crafted Broad City alter ego Ilana Glazer comes across as simply annoying. Kate McKinnon and Jillian Bell are probably the best with their characters but neither one is given much to do. McKinnon just leans hard into her accent and Bell is saddled with a "loser desperate friend who can't take a hint". The third thing is that the movie never quite finds it's tone. It struggles between "woke" dialogue for characters who are actually just mean and instead of simply leaning into the fact that these women are awful and allowing them to get even more absurdly awful it's way too protective of the characters and keeps trying to redeem them by making them "nice" people. It's both incredibly boring and keeps the movie from really flying.

Still, Rough Night isn't a total write off. There are enough funny lines and a subplot (involving Jess's fiancé who the movie allows to get into REALLY ridiculous shenanigans) to be watchable. Just wish that the script would have let the ladies turn loose too.