Rough Night, written by Paul Downs and Lucia Aniello, directed by the latter

Rough Night, written by Paul Downs and Lucia Aniello, directed by the latter

                Why would Scarlett Johansson decide to act in this comedy?

This is one of the more important questions in a rather forgettable yarn that has some good moments.

                Alternatively, maybe quite a few, if you are enthusiastic or stoned.

Speaking of drugs, perhaps one of the more interesting scenes takes place in a gas station, late at night, as one of the characters tries to solve the problem of a blocked card, on account of his travelling for an “astronaut revenge” ride for thousands of miles.

Peter has to try to get his splendid bride to be back, Scarlett Johansson aka Jess, and without money and gas, he needs to resort to dramatic solutions, after washing windshields wearing adult diapers, he is approached by a truck driver who says that he has cocaine and is also interested in being sucked off.

The groom to be immediately has another offer, from another driver, who wants to blow him and is trying to buy drugs, hence the transactions organized by Peter, who is all the time running through the station in…diapers.

The reason for this strange outfit is that he needs to recuperate the seemingly departing fiancée and this is an emergency that leaves no time for biological needs and interruptions, although he gets stopped on the road by a policeman who is alarmed by the vast quantity of cans in the back seat, which eventually turn out to be energizer, and makes the driver prove that he is not under the influence of alcohol, dressed as he is, or drugs and Peter does some walking on…his hands.

As for the plot, some very familiar, déjà vu stories are inserted in here, with Jess joining four other five best friends, reunited ten years after graduating college, for a bachelorette weekend in Miami.

There is a lot of drinking, and we have seen that in so many features, wild dancing and posturing and finally a stripper called, also referred to as male prostitute by Jess in phone communication with Peter.

The problem is that the stripper dies and as this is described in so many movies that it can become boring, as they become insane and try to get rid of the body, in the sea, getting silly-humorous?- on the beach and on a jet ski and finally dump the corpse in a outré installation for extreme sex.

They realize at one point that the surveillance cameras of the neighbors have caught all the labored movement of the dead body and therefore the very attractive Blair has to go to the people next door and accept their previous invitation for a wild threesome.

Ty Burrell is funny as the husband of the character played by Demi Moore, although not enough as to extract this film from mediocrity or worse.

After the young Blair is rather passive, but still unhappy with the sexual intercourse with the much older, bizarre couple is asking for the recording of the surveillance cameras, to masturbate on later, Pietro says that there is no such evidence, since they only had the cameras working for the first three months free trial period…

Meanwhile, a police officer comes at the door and makes one of the young women stand against the wall to be searched, starts touching and caressing her breast, to be kicked down and laid unconscious on the floor.

Evidently, the women and the audience are looking for answers, as the officer is moved and his specific underwear revealed that he could be a stripper- how many strippers did you call?- and the organizer looks at his penis and identifies him as the only, real performer invited to the house that night.

Other policemen – what a complex, interesting, challenging plot? Right?-show at the door and then enter the premises, where they explain that the man that was killed was actually a dangerous felon, involved in a diamond heist and why they explain this new turn of events, the news uncover the fact that there are three robbers and the face detectives are part of the operation and a “dramatic” fight ensues.

Alas, this is not entertaining, except for viewers who are extremely tolerable or very easy to please.

Some of the highlights are very brief and anyway do not amount to enough worthwhile material, as the aforementioned Peter, played by one of the writers, with his shenanigans in the gas station and in front of a patrol officer and Ty Burrell, with his amusing, relaxed, somewhat mocking air…

He has in fact one of the few- maybe three? –lines that seemed jocular:

“You will have to masturbate like the Italians, from memories…”

He says this after the ménage a trois involving his partner and the woman next door, desperate to get the compromising recording from the surveillance cameras and aghast to find there is no evidence- which she claimed she needs to pleasure herself later…

It all seems a waste of time and talent.