Rough Night

Year: 2017
Genre: Comedy
Directed: Lucia Aniello
Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Zoe Kravitz, Ilana Glazer, Kate McKinnon, Paul W. Downs, Ryan Cooper, Ty Burrell, Demi Moore, Enrique Murciano, Dean Winters, Colton Haynes, Eric Andre, Bo Burnham, Hasan Minhaj, Karan Soni
Production: Sony Pictures Entertainment

If Bridesmaids (2011) was proof that the ladies can play just as rough in delivering truly inspired raunch-com moments, then Rough Night is incontrovertible proof that they can also deliver mediocre fair with the same lack of conviction as their coasting male counterparts. Is it funny; yeah in spurts. Can it be a little cloying; yeah at times. Is it the best version of what it could be? Perhaps that's the wrong question.

Rough Night reunites college roommates Jess (Johansson), Alice (Bell) Blair (Kravitz) and Frankie (Glazer) who are planning one last blowout soiree before Jess takes the plunge into married life. They all rendezvous in sunny Miami, and meet up with Jess's friend from Australia Pippa (McKinnon). From there Alice plans a fun night on the town followed by a private party at their rented beach house. Things go terribly wrong however after the girls invite a stripper into the house and wind up with a dead body on their hands.

Part of what will end up working for you about Rough Night has a lot to do with you look for in a comedy. At times the film channels the frazzled energy of The Hangover (2009) while at others it's stretching for the "what are we going to do now" immediacy of a Guy Ritchie crime comedy. It sometimes sinks in the tepid character dynamics of a late-period Blake Edwards sex comedy while at others times it outright revels in pure absurdity. The center narrative stitch however is farce - trading on the buffoonery of our characters to establish much of the movie's important story elements.

This however becomes a crutch as the movie limps away from the halfway point. Once we get a good idea of what's going on, it becomes obvious that there just aren't enough levers for this movie to pull to keep everything going. And instead of relying on broad characters and an increasing array of improbable circumstances (the bread and butter of any good farce), the movie cuts back and forth between, not people but groups that are only tangentially related to the story proper. As a result Rough Night starves itself on its own lack of possibilities.

Umm...

Such groups by the way, include Demi Moore and Ty Burrell who play sexed-up beach neighbors with an eye for Blair. Their inclusion results in one of the film's most problematic moments by far. On the other end we have Paul W. Downs and his groomsmen. The juxtaposition of Jess's gathering and Paul W. Downs's rather demure stag party provides the funniest moments in the entire film.  And because Downs's moments start with the unexpected and only grow more bizarre from there, the man threatens to run away with what feels like a compromised movie. Ironic since its supposed to be about the women.

Look, if you really want to prime yourself for a good movie going experience, you shouldn't be asking yourself if this is the best movie they could have made with this kind of material. Instead ask yourself if this is the best movie that has been made out of this kind of material. In comparison to Stag (1996) and Very Bad Things (1998), Rough Night is clearly a winning choice. Though personally when it comes to movies about what to do with a dead body, the gold standard will always be Weekend at Bernie's (1989)

Final Grade: C