ROUGH NIGHT
US, 2017, 101 minutes, Colour.
Scarlett Johansson, Jillian Bell, Zoe Kravitz, Ilana Glazer, Kate Mc Kinnon, Paul W.Downs, Ryan Cooper, Ty Burrell, Demi Moore.
Directed by Lucia Aniello.
Rough Night is one of those raucous American comedies with a difference. Instead of males behaving badly it is females behaving badly.
We are introduced to the central characters as young women, going to college, college life and parties, their friendships, ambitions, bonding. Then we move to 10 years later and, with some of the women, things have changed.
It is a surprise to see Scarlett Johansson with a role as an ordinary character after seeing her as one of The Avengers as well is the range of science-fiction futuristic films in which she has appeared like Lucy, Under the Skin, and her voice in Her. This time she is Jess, with political ambitions, involved in a campaign, looking for funding, wanting to keep her reputation, and engaged to Peter (played by Paul W. Downs, cowriter of this film with his real-life partner, Lucia Aniello).
The other members of the group are Frankie and Blair, who had something of a relationship in the past while one has gone on to marry but is in the middle of an angry divorce while the other still has the touch of the bohemian and is involved all in all kinds of social protests. The audience is very conscious of the presence of Alice, played by Jillian Bell, whose bombastic comedy style needs to be taken in rather smaller doses.
And then, into the scene comes Jess’s friend from Australia, Pippa, played with her usual strong comic style by Kate Mc Kinnon. And she has an interesting Australian accent as well as some Australian slang – though there are touches of New Zealandish in her accent and, her new friends mix her up nationally and she gets the nickname Kiwi.
Of course, the expected things happen. Decisions are made about how much to drink when they go out to the clubs. Decisions are made about whether they will snort cocaine – which they do. They have the beach house of a friend – and come across the over-amorous neighbours, played by Ty Burrell and Demi Moore, who are interested in in more open relationships (which is rather tested later in connection with their having surveillance cameras).
One of the cautions about the cameras is that arrangements have been made for a stripper to turn up and, in the excitement, Alice bumps into him and he hits his head, bleeds and dies. And so, we are in the territory of Weekend with Bernie of so many decades ago: what to do with the corpse, move the corpse or not, different methods of getting rid of the corpse. One of the ideas is to prop him up in the car to get rid of him. Another is to go down to the beach and send him out to sea – and their not anticipating his tidal return.
Jess keeps in touch with Peter who is at his very, very sedate and genteel stag party, he and his friends sitting round a table doing a rather elitist wine-tasting! But, anxious about Jess’s phone calls and their uncertainty, he jumps into a car, pepped up by some drugs, wearing a nappy to avoid pitstops, but gets into trouble on the way to Florida at a service station, with money, and pulled over by the police.
There is a twist about the stripper, not being exactly who the girls thought he was which leads them into all kinds of trouble with some criminals posing as police, interrogating and terrorising them – but with Jess to the rescue.
Happy ending – but, for those who have enjoyed the film, it is well worth waiting until the scene with the final credits, despite its focusing on Alice, where there is an enjoyable revelation of the plot twist.
1. The title and the tone?
2. American raucous, a female night out? The complications of the death and moving the body?
3. Locations, Boston, the North, the transition to Florida? The musical score?
4. The group of friends, seeing them in the past, at college, Jess and her leadership, Alice and her bond with Jess but her being ditzy? Frankie and Blair and their relationship? College life?
5. The transition to years later, the change in the characters, the different careers, different relationships, presence and absence?
6. An American story, the background politics, business, marriage and divorce, protests, same-sex relationships?
7. Jess and her life, her engagement to Peter, the plans, campaigns, financial support? Engaged and the plan for the parties? Jess to go with her friends, her hesitations?
8. Alice, friendship, her life, her manner, rough? Poor relationships, needy, drinking, drugs, bombastic yet vulnerable?
9. Blair and Frankie, the divorce, the settlements, the protests?
10. Arriving in Florida, reunited, the plans, the hotel, the rooms, the outings, the clubs? The decisions about drugs? The drinking? The flirtations? Jess and her concern?
11. The booking of the stripper, the arrival, the reactions? Alice and her knocking him out? His death? The later revelation that he was a criminal, the diamonds and the concealing, his partners arriving, posing as the police, the interrogations, the guns, the search, Jess and her attack, rounding up the criminals?
12. The stripper, alias the criminal, his body, the treatment, phone calls for legal advice, moving the body, taking it out to the sea, sending it out, the irony of it being washed up again, taking it in the vehicle and the crash?
13. The reactions of the women, the pizza and eating, drinking and drugs, the arguments, the bluntness about relationships, being hurt?
14. The unexpected arrival of Pippa, from Australia, accent? Being mistaken for a Kiwi? Her blunt manner, enjoying the outings, sharing with the girls, Alice and her being wary?
Her helping in the crisis situations?
15. The episode with the neighbours, the open marriage, sexuality? The worry about surveillance cameras? Going to the house, the sexual involvement, the irony that there
were no cameras?
16. Peter and his friends, the sedate wine tasting party? The phone calls, his decision to go, the car, the drugs, the nappy, driving straight through, the encounter at the service station, money problems, called over by the police, his explanations, finally crashing into the house?
17. The final party, the wedding, the real stripper and his experience with the girls, knocked out, the attraction to Alice?
18. The post-credits postscript, Alice, in the kitchen, hungry – and discovering the diamonds?
