The Night Before (1988)

What if I told you there was a movie with almost the same premise as The Hangover, made in the 80s, starring Keanu Reeves. Would you believe me? Well you should, because that movie is The Night Before.
In this movie Keanu Reeves wakes up in the middle of the night in an alley and has to figure out what the hell happened to him during the night. Very quicly he remembers that he was taking the popular girl from school to the prom because she lost a bet and had to go with him. Then he quickly remembers that her dad told him that if anything happened to her he would kill him. Then he remembers that he might have sold the girl to a pimp.... And things spiral out of control from there. I think when all is said and done we meet like 3 or 4 different pimps.
I liked how this movie slowly pieced together what Keanu had actually done that night. It does a great job of flashing back and forth from what happened to showing Keanu tracing his steps. His night all started to go downhill when he drank tequilla and ginger ale at a bar in the "bad" side of town, so don't do that. Keanu isn't really known for his acting skills, but he was surprisingly funny and charming in this role. Maybe it was just easy for him to play someone who was out of it and had no idea what was going on...
There are laughs spread throughout. Nothing gut busting, but at least it kept a smile on my face for much of it. A lot of the jokes stem from the fact that they keep being in places with all black people, and they are white. You can see those kind of jokes coming from a mile away, but some of them are still funny. My one complaint about the plot is that the girl (played by Lori Laughlin, Becky from Full House) forgives all the terrible stuff that happened to her that night because Keanu "risked his life" to save her in the end. Uhh, what about the fact that all the problems she faces were all his fault to being with? Whatever, its a movie, I guess they need them to be together in the end for a happy ending.
I have not seen The Hangover yet, but I have a feeling that in the "forgot what happened last night, need to figure it out" genre, that is probably the superior movie to The Night Before. But if you are looking for a fun 80s movie you probably never heard of before, or you liked Keanu in the Bill and Ted movies, check out The Night Before.

3 out of 5 Stars