By Travis Johnson
All else aside, Rough Night has a hell of a cast. Scarlett Johansson, Zoë Kravitz, Kate McKinnon, Jillian Bell, and Ilana Glazer are five old friends who get together for a night of old-school debauchery, only to wind up with a dead stripper on their hands – who hasn’t been there? Hijinks ensue.
It’s a well-worn premise (waves vaguely at article title), but the proof of comedy isn’t in its originality, it’s in its laughs. Three of the headliners are among the funniest people working today, and while Johansson and Kravitz’s comedy chops are largely untested, McKinnon*, Bell, and Glazer should be able to make up for any shortfall.
The script, by Lucia Aniello and Paul W. Downs, wound up on the fabled Black List back in 2015. Aniello, who cut her teeth on Broad City, is making her feature directorial debut on this one, while Downs co-stars.
Rough Night hits Australian cinemas on June 15, 2017.
*We will allow that even McKinnon couldn’t save Office Christmas Party, but she wasn’t alone there.
Just goes to prove Hollywood is running at the bottom of the idea barrel, that they go bobbing in past barrels.