Review – Rough Night

It’s Weekend at Bernie’s (1989) meets Bridesmaids (2011) in Rough Night, a rowdy, hilarious, girls-night-out comedy that offers up more than just a slew of laughs.

In Rough Night, Jess (Scarlett Johannson), Alice (Jillian Bell), Blair (Zöe Kravitz), and Frankie (Illana Glazer) are college friends who grew up and grew apart.  Jess is running for political office, Alice is a teacher that is obsessed with her and Jess’s relationship, Blair is a successful business woman going through a divorce, and Frankie is an activist who may or may not be homeless.  The four girls unite for Jess’s bachelorette party in Miami, along with Jess’s Australian friend Pippa (Kate McKinnon).  While on a booze filled, cocaine fueled rager, the girls hire a stripper for Jess and accidentally kill him.  From there, it’s a whole bunch of shenanigans as the girls decide what to do with the body while also fleshing out the issues they have with one another.

Rough Night handles the accidental killing perfectly.  These girls have no idea what they are doing, which is why all of they do some of the things that they do.  They’re also heavily influenced on drugs and alcohol and react to that too, like when the pizza man shows up with two pizzas and they take a breather just to down a couple of slices.  I’ve never had to deal with a dead body (that you know of), but for some reason, the reactions and way they dealt with everything felt weirdly real.  But with all the chaos going on, tensions and egos rise between the girls, causing truths to come out that some did not expect.  Some of it is a little cliché, but it does add an emotional weight to the film that makes us care about these characters getting out of this situation and maintain their friendships.

Like most of these kind of movies, the shenanigans begins to wear thin and they rely on some weird plot twist towards the end to keep it all moving.  But, one aspect that does keep the movie going during these thinner times is the side story of Jess’s fiancé, Peter (Paul W. Downs), who is traveling to Miami because he thinks Jess is in trouble.  Peter’s trip is anything but simple, as he wears adult diapers and pounds Red Bull and expired Russian Adderall so that he doesn’t need to stop except for gas, which causes him even more problems when he does.  Downs is absolutely hilarious and the insanity of his trip, much like the drugs he takes, keeps the movie from hitting a wall.

But what really makes this movie go is the cast.  This is a cast of wildly talented actresses who are all at the height of their powers.  It’s almost weird to see Johannson in this movie, as her star power is far greater than everyone else in this movie and she isn’t really considered a comedic actress.  But she holds her own here and blends in perfectly with this cast of great young, comedic talent.  Everyone brings their own unique style to the film and it all meshes perfectly.  Bell brings her dead-face, dry humor, Glazer is loud and weird, Kravitz is more straight laced, and McKinnon is all over the place with her ridiculous one-liners and outrageous Australian accent.  Combined, the group makes for one of the more enjoyable ensembles of the year and continues the trend of strong, female-led films.

Grab a couple of drinks and a few friends and see Rough Night.  This is one of those fun party comedies that comes out every summer.  Sure, you can figure out where this movie is going, but it’s this stellar cast, who all bring their A-game, that make this movie worth a watch.

Did you see Rough Night?  What did you think?  Comment below or hit me up on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, or on Facebook by searching Kevflix.