THE NIGHT BEFORE | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"THE NIGHT BEFORE"
(2015) (Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt) (R)

QUICK TAKE:: Comedy: Three thirty-something friends get together on Christmas to have one last wild night of holiday debauchery before moving on with their lives.

PLOT:

Fourteen Christmas seasons ago, Ethan (JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT) lost both of his parents to a drunk driver. Fresh out of high school, he fell into a deep depression that only his two best friends, Isaac (SETH ROGEN) and Chris (ANTHONY MACKIE), were able to lift him out of. They started a holiday tradition of going out on Christmas Eve, seeing the Rockefeller Center tree in Manhattan, eating Chinese food, and toe-tapping the big piano keys at the FAO Schwarz toy store. As they got older, the night also became about getting drunk, getting high, and getting into all sorts of naughty Yuletide mischief.

But now it's 2015, and Isaac is married to Betsy (JILLIAN BELL) and about to become a father for the first time. Chris, meanwhile, is a professional football player having his best season. Ethan is a failed musician, still pining for his old girlfriend, Diana (LIZZY CAPLAN), who he was never able to commit to. He understands that this Christmas Eve will be the last he, Isaac and Ethan partake in their tradition. So, he intends to make it a classic blowout, especially when he scores tickets to the Nutrcracker Ball, a mythic holiday party that is a cross between a beer-soaked fraternity bash and the extreme costume soiree of "Eyes Wide Shut."

Along the way, they have to score some marijuana from the enigmatic drug dealer Mr. Green (MICHAEL SHANNON); track down Chris' one-night-stand, Rebecca (ILANA GLAZER), who has stolen their pot; stop Isaac from taking so many drugs that he'll never come down; deal with Chris coming clean about using steroids to stay in the NFL; and retrieve Isaac's cell phone from Diana's angry best friend, Sarah (MINDY KALING).

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Older teens will definitely have some interest due to the young cast and raunchy, naughty R-rated trappings.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For drug use and language throughout, some strong sexual content, and graphic nudity.

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