At one point, the notion of Seth Rogen as a father was so inherently ridiculous that they made an entire feature-length comedy about it. The curly-haired Canadian/marijuana enthusiast has always seemed like every straight American male’s platonic ideal of what a best friend should be: smart, funny, ready to dispense advice and/or drugs at the drop of a hat. He has never, though, been anyone’s idea of dad material. Every Rogen movie is a loving ode to the joys of staying eternally young, and also the build-up towards that inevitable moment where our lovable schlub is finally forced to grow up.
Turns out, everyone’s favourite chuckling teddy bear has grown up. Well, sort of. He actually plays a dad — and, from the looks of things, a (mostly) decent one — in The Night Before, a shambling, sporadically funny stoner comedy that splits the difference between your traditional yuletide yarn and the typical Rogen gross-out-fest where friendships are tested and eventually affirmed, naughty jokes are made and everything turns out to be more or less alright in the end. More often than not, the movie succeeds and is sweet and silly, with a lightness of touch. However flimsy it is in the grand scheme of things, in the moment it possesses a modest but undeniable charm.
Our trio of bros this time around are Isaac, played by Rogen, Chris (Anthony Mackie) and Ethan (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Isaac is the typical Rogen character gone domestic, Chris is a charismatic, hot-headed football superstar with an all-too-predictable secret and Ethan works dead-end catering gigs and remains emotionally stunted after the tragic and untimely death of his parents. With each passing year, their brotherhood of bong hits and bar crawls is solidified by one longstanding Christmas tradition: a night of karaoke, Chinese food, playing the piano from Big and, finally, the attempt to gain access to the Nutcracka Ball, a mythological party that is reputed to be one of the most lavish and elusive in New York City. A few things end up complicating the boy’s quest, however, including the re-emergence of Ethan’s old flame, the wonderful Lizzy Caplan, and Isaac’s wife giving him a pocket-sized box of narcotics that he ingests all too willingly. Throw in a gang of drunk sidewalk Santas, an admittedly rousing live performance of Miley Cyrus’ Wrecking Ball and an almost-too-creepy cameo from Rogen’s pal James Franco, then roll, seal, spark and inhale and you’ve got The Night Before.
The director here is Jonathan Levine, who helmed 50/50, his first union of Rogen and Levitt - a flawed but ultimately affecting dramedy about one young man’s battle with cancer. Levine has a gift for naturalistic comedy and an ear for male banter and camaraderie. It doesn’t hurt that our three stars manage to convincingly portray a lived-in, long-term friendship marred by instances of doubt and betrayal. Rogen is especially funny when he’s losing it, although a nasty gag about cocaine blood ending up in a woman’s drink goes too far, while Mackie subtly oscillates between bouts of narcissism and the crippling insecurity of a grown-up jock. Not surprisingly, Joseph Gordon-Levitt turns out to be the film’s heart: his Ethan is a palpable and heartbreaking vision of young male stasis, even when the film’s busy script saddles him with some unwieldy dialogue. The Night Before also features a who’s who of comic talent in supporting roles, including the indispensable Jillian Bell as Rogen’s wife, Nathan Fielder as a weirdo limo driver, Mindy Kaling doing Mindy Kaling, Broad City’s Ilana Glazer as a weed-stealing Grinch and Tracy Morgan in a role that is way too funny to spoil here.
In almost every respect, The Night Before is exactly what it’s supposed to be: a broad, big-hearted trifle whose momentary lapses in good taste are ultimately redeemed by its sweetness.
It feels like a very short two years ago that the 2017 remake of Stephen Kings It hit the big screen. After release, the film very quickly became the highest grossing horror movie of all time, seemingly satisfying the critics just as much the audiences. Almost immediately plans were put into action to film the second half of King’s sprawling 1986 novel. I, for one, was very much aboard the hype train.
Set twenty seven years after the events of Chapter One, It: Chapter Two brings both the audience and the original members of the Losers’ Club back to Derry to keep the promise that they made to one another three decades ago, destroy Pennywise once and for all. The child killing force has returned and only they can band together to stop it. With their memories faded the longer they had been away from their hometown, the likes of Bill, James McAvoy, Beverly, Richie and Eddie and Ben (played by James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Bill Hader, James Ransone and Jay Ryan respectively) face the task of remembering and coming to terms with their past traumas, along with finding the strength and belief to come together and be single-willed enough to rid Pennywise of his fear feeding powers.
Unsurprisingly, my likes and dislikes of It: Chapter Two are pretty much identical to the likes and dislikes that I had for its predecessor. In my opinion, the magic and power of this story lies in the human connection and engagement with characters – not in the cinematic terror that its antagonist generates. This new adult cast brings another enjoyable element to the characters we last saw in childhood and once again I found myself more invested in the moments in between jump scares than in the jump scares themselves. It by its very nature works best on a metaphorical level with themes of childhood trauma and overcoming fear. Where It: Chapter Two fails slightly in my opinion is in dedicating far too much time to horror set pieces that have little to no stakes. Faced with giving equal time to an already large cast of central characters, the film proceeds with a back to back set of horror sequences that all end with a classic hero realisation – Pennywise is not real. You can only hold a viewer’s engagement for so long when they aren’t sure what is dangerous and what is not. Clocking in at just under three hours, you start to feel every single minute about a third of the way through the film. Unfortunately, some moments in this film are really just kind of boring. Which was not something that could be said about the first instalment of the franchise. By the time hour three comes around, there is certainly a sense of satisfaction that this entire two year long cinematic saga has been wrapped up neatly, but for me, the ninety suspect minutes either side of a strong beginning and a rewarding ending are not quite enough to make It: Chapter Two a triumph.
One element of the film that absolutely cannot criticise is the strong and varied performances of its aged up cast. The casting folks behind the scenes have done an exceptional job matching up adult actors with their 2017 child counterparts, in some cases it verges on eery. Jessica Chastain picks up where Sophia Lillis left off in an expert fashion, the young and mature iterations of the character share much more than just simple colouring. The same can be said for James Ransone as adult Eddie – his adopted and shared mannerisms with young Jack Dylan Grazer are extraordinary. Far and away the star of the show, for me was Bill Hader as trash mouth Richie. Now a standup comedian, the character is the source of comic relief. But he does so much more than just provide humour and some of the film’s biggest revelations and poignant moments are provided by both Hader and Finn Wolfhard in flashback scenes.
In a strange way, it feels like Bill Skarsgard, who plays Pennywise, takes something of a backseat in this sequel. As the narrative ramps up towards a crazy ending, we get to experience less of the truly creepy, smaller touches that made him so good in the first and instead get more CGI that didn't really do it for me. Of course, there are more effective jump scares than you can count but ultimately Pennywise just doesn’t have as big an impact as he did in 2017.
Overall, I have to say that It: Chapter Two doesn’t quite feel like the expertly crafted package that Chapter One was but on balance there is probably enough there to please fans of the 2017 predecessor. It’s way too long, with a repetitive middle section that will test even the most patient of viewers but you will walk away from the cinema feeling satisfied with the closure that is provided.
