Rough Night

Next time someone complains about the lack of female directors in Hollywood, I'm just going to reply with the words, "Rough Night." Directed by Lucia Aniello, Rough Night's synopsis reads, "A group of friends are horrified when the male stripper they hired for a wild bachelorette party in Miami winds up dead."

The trailer came on the other night, and my wife said it looks like a chick version of The Hangover. After watching the trailer, it looks more like a chick version of Weekend At Bernie's, because they drag that stripper's corpse all over the place. Leave it to an inexperienced female director to waste an opportunity to explore complex and disturbing themes.

What deeper material might Aniello have explored?

The male stripper dying could be a stand-in for the death of the groom's sex life.

Or, there could be a darker message, about the vulnerability of female sex workers and the very real possibility of death that lurks behind every client's door.

Or even the objectification of women that all too often sees male rage displaced upon women.

I don't think those themes are present.  I see a movie full of stupid sight gags. Like staging a corpse is supposed to be funny or something.

The women are trying to cover up the fact they tampered with the stripper's body so they drive around Miami beach with it.

In this shot, the corpse has an erection. How is this worthy of merit in any way?

This movie has Scarlett Johansson as the bride-to-be. That would ordinarily pull young men into the theatres, except Aniello cut Johansson's hair short and by doing so, stripped out a big part of her feminine allure. Men are going to avoid this movie in droves.

So it's a chick flick about women who commit an evil deed, then avoid responsibility for it.     Sounds like an abortion to me.

And check out the promotional poster.  What a mess.  They made Zoe Kravitz white.  They put dyke Kate McKinnon in, and gave her an Australian accent for some reason

The two women on the right have their teeth bared in a predatory and hostile display.  They are literally out for blood.

And they all wear sashes like they are beauty contestants.

In 2017, women can be just as predatory as men, but nobody will pay twelve bucks to see that.

Sony reportedly won a bidding war to land the script, just so they could fill their diversity quota. The Deadline article notes that Sony "is on the hunt for franchises, and the hope is that this could grow into one."

I have an idea for Rough Night II. Duke Lacrosse players meet for their ten-year reunion. They hire stripper Crystal Magnum, who "winds up dead." Then, amidst the craziness of trying to cover it up, they're ultimately brought closer together when it matters most.

I would cast Brock Turner as the captain of the Duke Lacrosse team. There could be a cameo by famous rapist Bill Cosby, who will play himself, and scold the boys for using Rohypnol instead of Quaaludes. Directed by Roman Polanski.