Rough Night (2017) Review

A bachelorette weekend takes a deadly turn, as five college friends reunite for a raucous adventure that quickly turns from wild to woeful.

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Ten years ago, as they entered their final year of college, four friends were inseparable. But, like most, their lives quickly outgrew their connection. With Jess (Scarlett Johansson) now set to get married, Alice (Jillian Bell) decides it’s time to get the girls back together for a bachelorette weekend in Miami.

A few lines of cocaine and many shots later, the girls decide to retreat to their beachside holiday home, where a stripper is planned to join them and their primed baby boomer neighbours also want a piece of the action.

It all goes horribly wrong, and the ladies soon find themselves facing the dire consequences of a random accident. This, of course, is where the humour really kicks in, as they scramble to figure out how to get out of the disaster they’ve created.

How will these seemingly clever women survive their dumbest night? There’s a lot of fun in finding out.

Rough Night, while not outstanding, is surprisingly good for its genre. It turns the typical bad bachelor adventure on its head, giving women the chance to behave appallingly, in the most fun way possible. Demented hijinks and hilarity ensue, as gender stereotypes are reversed.

Guest appearances by Demi Moore and Ty Burrell add to the twisted humour that brings everyone’s worst weekend disaster to life.

In the spirit of The Hangover and Weekend at Bernie’s (for those a little older), Rough Night is a great way to spend a night with your best friends. The only real letdown of the film is Kate McKinnon’s alleged Australian accent.

I love Kate McKinnon. She is no doubt the master of impersonation, having entertained many with her Hillary Clinton skits, but when it comes to the Aussie accent, all I can say to Kate is, why?

For reasons no Australian could likely fathom, Kate adds a B to the beginning of most words… b’mazing? Let’s just say, we’re not bemused. It’s not enough to ruin the film, but it’s surely going to be a sore point for Australian audiences who’d hoped the world had stopped its Mick Dundee perception of us.

Ah well, like the film itself, you can’t take it all too seriously; and if you don’t, there are plenty of good laughs here to be had.