The Night Before
Long before there was The Hangover, there was The Night Before. Sure, it’s incredibly sexist – but most things were back in 1988, when a relatively unknown Keanu Reeves starred as Winston Connelly for director Thom Eberhardt. The story sees Winston wake up in an alleyway in the middle of the night, with no recollection of how he got there.
Flashbacks reveal that Winston was supposed to be taking Tara (Lori Loughlin) to the prom, since she lost a bet on a football game. However, en route to the event, Winston gets them lost on “the wrong side of the tracks,” accidentally sells Tara to a pimp, and loses his Dad’s car. Hilarity ensues as Winston frantically tries to undo his night of bumbling misdeeds, and get Tara, himself, and his Dad’s car safely back home before the pimp tracks him down and kills him.
Ignoring, for a moment, the rampant misogyny that dominated 1980s cinema, The Night Before succeeds solely because Keanu Reeves hits every comedic note with pitch perfect aim. His character is initially presented as somewhat oblivious, and over the course of the night in question, he has no choice but to dig deep and become a semi-competent hero. His charm is the element that helps the audience forgive the fact that it is his own mess he is clearing up, and he quickly becomes the champion to cheer for – the underdog, trying to succeed in a difficult situation.
That situation allows for Reeves to showcase his considerable skill. From his visible discomfort as the young couple find themselves in an ‘undesirable’ part of town, to his understated reaction to realising the enormity of his mistakes. From his attempts to relate to neighbourhood gangsters, to his exasperated banter with his reluctant prom date – The Night Before is an early comedy showcase for the young Keanu Reeves.
