It’s time for a comedy title that gets a little serious so you can almost think about it like a dark comedy at times. It’s got some Twilight Zone vibes to it as well and it makes for an intriguing start. The problem is that as the mystery gets unraveled, the film gets weaker and weaker. So by the end I’m afraid that this film definitely gets the thumbs down. I like the concept but would have definitely approached it differently.

The movie starts off with a drunk Winston wandering around through the night. How did he gets here and what is going on? His memory is all in a daze. He quickly realizes 3 things. 1. He was on the way to prom with a girl named Tara but she’s missing so he needs to find her. 2. A gangster named Tito wants to beat him up for some reason so he needs to stay low. 3. His dad’s car has been hijacked and he needs it back. It’s hard to say how all of this could have happened to him but Winston better move fast because he needs to get Tara back home before her father notices.

Here’s the thing with memory loss cases like this, in most situations it means that the guy was drinking which is what caused this lapse in memory. Well, unfortunately that is exactly what happened here. Winston decided to have a drink at a super seedy place which wasn’t smart and the drink was spiked with drugs so he was out for a while. He makes tons and tons of mistakes throughout the film. He’s just not very smart at all and is like one of those characters out of dumb and dumber.

At first when we’re introduced to Tara you feel like she’s being way too mean to Winston. It’s uncalled for how much she is berating him and everything but by the end of the film you get it. This guy is in way over his head and has no idea what to do. Everyone keeps on suckering him over and over too. The way Winston loses the car was particularly bad but same for how he let Tara’s card and wallet get stolen. Basically if there was a way to mess up then he would. It’s a comedy film so you are expecting him to mess up a lot but it tends to be less in a charismatic way and more in an annoying status. You’re not rooting for him quite as much as you’re supposed to.

The guy even lets himself get dragged into a quick affair with another lady who was hanging around which doesn’t speak well to Winston’s loyalty. I don’t feel like he’s a very responsible individual and if anything he is just getting everyone into trouble the whole time. Definitely a thumbs down for that guy all the way. Tara was way more fun. Yes, she can be mean but she is a lot tougher and gets things done. She gives attitude to all of the characters without any remorse.

Winston tries to make a speech about how Tara is spoiled at the end but I’d argue that she is fairly down to Earth. She certainly has more street smarts than he had. Ultimately, the trouble she got into was basically unavoidable compared to Winston’s situations where he was the one making the mistakes. If anything she did well to keep her composure and everything considering what was happening. Her plot of being sold off from person to person was a bit dark for the film though. Using that kind of a plot point for tension as to why Winston needs to save her quickly is always a bit much.

It’s also the film’s excuse to have a lot of fanservice squeezed in at one point. The film could have taken the high road but opted not to. The shame is that there are a lot of scenes in the film that are actually really funny. Scenes that will have you grin a little and the over the top nature of the moments can work really well. Like when a crazy guy shows up and reaches into Winston’s pocket to steal his wallet. I loved how direct the guy was. He just wanted the wallet and wasn’t hesitating about it. The rough neighborhood was just as rough as it looked. The fact that there wasn’t a twist was almost the twist in itself. No moment where it turns out everyone’s just super nice and everything. Nah, this was just the heroes making a bunch of wrong turns.

The ending is definitely not satisfying though. It goes in the direction I would have preferred that it avoided because it doesn’t really make sense in this context. After everything that went on, only the opposite answer would have made any sense. At least if you ask me, that’s how I see it. It also deprives us of a funny ending where the father chases Winston around or something like that.

So in the end I generally enjoyed the scenes with Tara bashing Winston and Winston running around getting into trouble. I didn’t really care for where Tara’s plot went from there and of course the whole climax is more of a thumbs down. So this was a bit of a mixed bag but my main thing is, would I watch this by myself or recommend it to anybody? The answer to both questions is no so that’s the end of that.

Overall, The Night Before is an interesting film and one that has a lot of good humor thrown into the mix. It can definitely bring on some good laughs but at times it can also just be really annoying. I thought Winston got off way too easily considering how many mistakes he made. If you ask me, he should have lost in the end and there’s no way Tara should like the guy. You don’t have to go with the cheesy Hollywood ending when you’re a comedy film. It would have been so much funnier if she basically told him to get lost at that point. I don’t even think it would be mean spirited, it would just make sense if anything considering everything that just happened.

Overall 4/10