In case you haven't noticed (via the sweltering heat in most areas of the country), the summer months seem to be upon us. And with the season comes a slew of summer movies hoping to cash in at the box office. Starting it off with a bang (and a death) is the new comedy Rough Night, which arrives in theaters this Friday. Starring Scarlett Johansson and written and directed by some of the folks behind Broad City, the film follows a bachelorette weekend gone very, very wrong. And considering how gif-able basically every frame of Broad City is, we decided one way to review the new comedy was completely through the gifs.
The following are my reactions to Rough Night, told primarily through gifs. We'll be getting into some spoilers (so steer clear if you want to go into this movie clean), but this ain't no Star Wars film, so I'm not going to spoil anything that is all that mind-blowing.
As a major Broad City fan, I sat in the audience of the NY Premiere trying to keep it cool while I saw a variety of the show's cast members.
But the lights eventually dimmed, and I managed to calm myself. We started off the film with a flashback, showing four college buddies crushing it at a Halloween party, where a beer pong tournament is tradition. Alice (Workaholic's Jillian Bell) has to sink the final shot in order for she and ScarJo's character, Jess, to win the game. And she does... by shooting it out of her mouth, leaving me in the audience, like
Fast forward to the present. The group of four characters have changed quite a bit. Jess, for example, is running for public office and engaged to nice guy and self proclaimed 6 out of 10, Peter (played by Paul W. Downs, who also write the film's screenplay). Frankie and Blair (Ilana Glazer and Zoe Kravitz, respectively) are no longer a couple, with Blair actually going through a messy divorce and custody battle. And Alice is a bored AF teacher who feels neglected by her best friend. Can you say needy?
But there's one thing that can change all of this. Jess' wild bachelorette weekend, planned to the nines by Alice. The ladies are planning on raging, and I'm planning on getting a contact hangover.
Oh and Kate Mckinnon is in the mix, too. She plays Jess' friend from study abroad, and is rocking a delightful Australian accent. Everytime she said something extra Aussie (including the word "no"), she got me like
But in a good way.
Things start getting out of hand when Frankie scores some coke. And despite Jess' original protests, the ladies all get down with the white stuff during their first night. But unlike Abbi's binge in Broad City, they ain't snorting Chex Mix.
Things get really bad, however when a stripper shows up. Because when Alice jumps on the guy, he accidentally falls back and instantly dies by hitting his head on the way down. From there, the girls have an appropriate freak out, and must decide how to get rid of the body and clear their names. What happens next?
In order for Kate McKinnon's Pippa to dump the dead body into the ocean, the group has to tend to the predatory sexually open couple next door, played by a delightful duo of Ty Burell and Demi Moore. And they've got their sights set on Zoe Kravitz's character.
Aside from the main action of the film, we occasionally cut to Peter's bachelor party. The ensemble includes comedians Bo Burnham and Eric Andre, as supportive and emotionally open members of the bridal party. But when Peter gets a scary phone call from Jess, he decides to get the truth in the most logical way: driving through the night and wearing adult diapers so he doesn't have to stop to pee. Yikes.
Various shenanigans occur while the girls attempt to dispose of the stripper's body. Things slow a bit during the middle of the film, although the action get crazier when the actual stripper shows up (played by Arrow's Colton Haynes). All those fans of Haynes' will be particularly excited, as he wears a thong for the majority of the film.
But aside from all the silly jokes (and there are many), the film does have a relatable story at the center of it. The group illustrates a story of a chosen family, particularly with Jess and Alice's relationship. We may get sick of our friends or family, but the unconditional love is still there. Cue the waterworks.
Rough Night will arrive in theaters on June 16. And for those who can't get enough of the writing and actors, Broad City will be back for Season 4 starting August 23rd on Comedy Central.
