[Review] Rough Night

Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Zoë Kravitz, Ilana Glazer, and Kate McKinnon make up the squad of hardcore partiers in Rough Night, a raucous if over-the-top romp that lives up to its title.

That squad, all former college buds, reunite 10 years later for a bachelorette weekend. Now--all much more mature--they vow to keep it classy. You know - refrain from anything that could get you fired if you got tagged in it on Facebook. But once the alcohol starts flowing (and the coke begins snorting), things get crazy--so crazy that they accidentally kill a male stripper!

For the most part, the raunchy humor actually works here, as the script is full of wild slapstick and dirty but clever one-liners. The Hangover is an obvious comparison to make, but the film's antics often recall the surprisingly good Neighbors 2, while capturing the wit and awareness of a post-Tinder zeitgeist. And while the film has a hard time cramming these five different personalities into the story, each character still has their moments and they all demonstrate great comic timing.

Kate McKinnon, despite donning an awkward Australian accident, emerges as a quirky standout, as she often does. And while we love Scarlett Johansson's more... serious roles, it's amusing to see her engage in a freewheeling flick like this. Men are intentionally put on the backburner here, but the ones that do show up are comedy sensations like Bo Burnham, Eric Andre, and Hasan Minhaj, who are all forced to play it straight, which is amusing in and of itself.

Rough Night is fittingly wild, scatter-brained, hyperbolic, and completely ridiculous, but that same sense of wicked spontaneity is exactly what makes it a fun time.

( 7/10 )

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