‘Night Before’ is a sweetly stoned Christmas comedy

Boosted by its stellar cast and playful take on “A Christmas Carol,” “The Night Before” is a coming-of-age stoner-buddy comedy laced with warm holiday cheer.

Three dudes have been friends since childhood, and for a decade, their yearly Christmas Eve reunion has been an annual night of debauchery and hilarity. But that's all going to change as they're entering adulthood.

 Make no mistake: It’s still a silly romp thick with dope smoke and dumb jokes, but the performances are solid, and there’s some surprising sentiment behind the wacky antics.


Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Seth Rogen and Anthony Mackie play best friends bidding farewell to their 10-year tradition of partying together on Christmas Eve.

 Ethan (Gordon-Levitt) is determined to make their last night epic, especially because Chris (Mackie) is on a hot streak in his football career and Isaac (Rogen) is expecting a baby.

Isaac’s wife, Betsy (the hilarious and soon-to-be everywhere Jillian Bell), gives her husband a special gift in honor of his last Christmas Eve with his pals: a box filled with “every single drug in the whole world.”