by Eric Blume
My assignment for TFE was a review of the movie Rough Night. But since I was not raised in a barn, nor raised by wolves, my mother once told me if you can’t find something nice to say, don’t say anything at all. So we’ll keep it short on Rough Night itself. It’s actually depressing how bad this movie is, a twist on a rather good mainstream movie called Very Bad Things, back in the Cameron Diaz days of 1998. That Peter Berg film had a bit of an edge as it followed several guy friends on a bachelor party who find themselves in a dead hooker situation. Rough Night is the distaff version of this tale, but the inept script, bad performances, and bland direction make it a tough sit. The film’s five actresses (Scarlett Johansson, Kate McKinnon, Zoe Kravitz, Jillian Bell, and Ilana Glazer) are winning, talented ladies and deserved a far better vehicle.
Sitting through Rough Night your mind may wander, as did mine, to the state of mainstream comedy in the cinema these days...
Throughout the 90s and Aughts, tons of mainstream comedies were released, several per month on occasion. Some were huge box office smashes designed to be huge box office smashes (The Hangover, Meet the Fockers, Bruce Almighty, etc.), but there were many that performed in the $80-$170 million range (The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Step Brothers, Pineapple Express type group) and others that performed less well but become minor classics (Austin Powers, Anchorman, etc.). We had continual comedy films from the Apatow camp, Ben Stiller and friends, the Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey brands, etc. There were also a slew of romantic comedies, teen sex comedies, and spoof movies all on a fairly regular rotating basis.
The romantic comedy is essentially a dead genre at the moment. That’s temporary, surely, but now that Julia, Reese, and Sandy have moved on to other enterprises, nobody has been there to inherit the 'America's Sweetheart' crown. Is there even an actress around who’s a possibility? While that genre isn’t a favorite for many cineastes, it deservers more respect. It takes an incredible screen magnetism to make those films work.
Even the biggest comedy stars from the last decade have been sadly absent lately. We were formerly treated to a series of movies that combined Will Ferrell, Steve Carrell, Paul Rudd, Seth Rogen, Jason Segel, and others over and over again for about a decade. Some of the projects were wonderful and inspired, while others were labored and limited, but they churned out one after the other in the Old Hollywood, workmanlike style, because people wanted to see them. Rogen is the one guy still in the game annually (most recently Neighbors 2, The Night Before, The Interview); the others are MIA.
Perhaps Rough Night should serve as a reminder that Hollywood needs to speed up instead of staying ten years behind the times. Rough Night and Bad Moms are the kinds of comedies that were hits a decade or two ago, simply repackaged with all-female casts. Rough Night, which has been continually compared with the 80s sleeper hit Weekend at Bernies, could easily star the guys mentioned above, as Bad Moms could easily feature any of those three gentlemen as well. Shouldn't new female comedies be aiming for their own thing?
The larger problem may be the cinematic comedy in general. We don't see as many now. If you remove the humorous films that ultimately belong to another genre (Guardians of the Galaxy, Lego Batman Movie, etc.), we have very few comedy releases so far: Baywatch. Snatched. Fist Fight. CHiPS. How to Be a Latin Lover. Any others?
It begs the question: do people not want to pay to see comedy films these days? Or are they simply fatigued with the comedy stars and formulas of the recent past, and waiting for a fresh wave?
You know the old saying 'dying is easy, comedy is hard.' Mainstream comedies are incredibly difficult to make. Paul Feig is probably the best comedy movie director we have right now: Bridesmaids, The Heat, and Spy all delivered beautifully. He’s smart enough to allow every actor in those movies to be funny, so his films never have to rely too heavily on any one actor, and the laughs aren't as forced. They play light and generous. But even his Ghostbusters reboot didn’t quite work: again, a movie that worked thirty years ago with all men.
What can rescue comedy at the multiplex? Are there directors or stars or movements that you think could help revive them?