I’m sorry, but when a guy gets killed, the movie ceases being a comedy for me. I’m funny that way. You might go the black comedy route, where humor occurs by dark irony, but when you put a dead man in a sex swing and adorn him with penis-nosed novelty sunglasses, we have to know that the guy had it coming. I mean no doubt, nothing circumstantial, this guy was a mobster, rapist, or Steve Bannon. Anything less and, I’m sorry, this isn’t funny.
Five friends converge to wreck southern Florida. It’s bachelorette weekend for future office-holder Jess (Scarlett Johansson), and she’s made the mistake of sharing it with her college buddies Alice (Jillian Bell), Blair (Zoë Kravitz), and Frankie (Ilana Glazer). Actually, it’s probably only the uninhibited and mildly possessive Alice who is trouble, exacerbated by the entrance of Pippa (Kate McKinnon), an Aussie friend from a different past of Jess. In an effort to make sure Jess is not monopolized by Pippa, Alice accelerates the entertainment and, before long, the five 30-something women are doing coke alone at a private Miami residence while awaiting a stripper.
At this point, the film is a standard party scene; we’ve seen better; we’ve seen worse. Rough Night milks the premise not for outrage, but for contrast – their Miami neighbors (Ty Burrell and Demi Moore) are swingers and Jess’ fiancé (Paul W. Downs) puts the milk in milquetoast. The latter is the more amusing contrast – the boys’ night back home is a snotty wine-tasting affair. The stripper shows up and in Alice’s exuberance to get her sex on, she jumps the man, clonking his head into the brick fireplace, killing him instantly.
At this point, you’ve got a different film. This has turned from Bachelor Party to Very Bad Things. And if Act I was passable premise, Act II was miserable decision. There’s one choice here – you call the police, you report it. It was an accident; there clearly wasn’t intent. There seems no reasonable alternative. But Jess is worried about her career and Alice is worried about liability and Pippa has to greet the pizza man at the door of this literal glass house. What is with all the glass houses in movies these days? As soon as the women waffled responsibility, they lost my sympathy and then Rough Night morphed into a (more) disturbing Weekend at Bernie’s. If I wasn’t sympathetic before, in the theater it was like being an O.J. juror.
See this face: :s This is the face I wore for the rest of the film. And you have no idea how disappointing it was 
to wear this face. I really enjoy ScarJo and Kate McKinnon; Jillian Bell has been a favorite ever since 22 Jump Street. The good news it was just Act II that was awful. In Act III, there’s a revelation minimizing the responsibility, but for a good 45 minutes we deal with a group of women who turn an accidental death into murder/cover up in the sloppiest way possible. What do you do with a film like that?
The guy who ripped my ticket insisted Rough Night was a gem; I won’t be taking any of his recommendations in the future. And now I’m a little worried about his sociopathic tendencies. It’s possible I’m overreacting. WHAT?! No, really. It is. In that case? The movie should have been funnier.
Five women indulge in the naughty
And soon have to remove a body
What’s worse, of course
Is lack of remorse
And a plot that borders on shoddy
Rated R, 101 Minutes
D: Lucia Aniello
W: Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs
Genre: Bad choices
Type of person most likely to enjoy this film: The detached
Type of person least likely to enjoy this film: People who cringe
