The story isn't anything new. Keanu Reeves plays Winston, a guy who wakes up with a major headache and absolutely no memory of what occurred the 'Night Before.' But as he wanders around the sleazy parts of a Californian city, he starts piecing together clues as to what exactly happened to his prom date, Tara (Loughlin), and a dreaded showdown at dawn with a guy named Tito.
I usually like 80s teen movies and most of the time it doesn't matter how stupid they are. But I didn't like this movie at all. It was quite revealing of what a bad actor Keanu Reeves can be. If you've seen Prince of Philadelphia, the River's Edge, or hell, even Bill and Ted, then you know he can give a good performance. All the while I was watching him in this movie, I just kept thinking of the old skits on Mad TV where they used to do the Keanu Reeves School of Acting. "Get in touch with that empty space in your brain." And Lori Loughlin, also no rookie to 80s teen movies, delivered her lines like she was suddenly picked on in English class to read the parts of a boring play.
And the story, which reminds me a lot of the old Nintendo game, Uninvited, would've been better if the characters and their situations were much more outrageous. The synopsis for the film compares The Night Before to Scorcese's After Hours, which, for those who haven't yet seen it, is about a guy who gets lost somewhere in New York, and every time he tries to find his way back home, he gets involved in some awful situation with a bunch of complete wierdos. Well, in Night Before, sure Winston comes across some strange folks like the guy who just sticks his arm in his car and grabs his wallet out of his tux. But there lacks a lot of humorous oddities that could've made this movie much more memorable. With a nutty story like this, there's plenty of opportunity to do that.
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