Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Rough Night 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman September 6, 2017

Imagine a cruder, clumsier, less funny, and more limited-scope version of Weekend at Bernie's to get an idea of what's in store in Rough Night, Director Lucia Aniello's Comedy about a bachelorette party that goes terribly wrong. The film revels in standard contemporary comedy cliché, employs blandly developed characters, comes packed with the requisite drinking and dancing scenes, is brimming with vulgarity, and works character angles that nobody really cares about. The film is good for a few laughs but feels destined to be lost and forgotten amidst the onslaught of so many other similarly assembled films that, true, don't share this exact plot but do share all of the trite and unimaginative character strokes and antics that propel it towards its endpoint.

Jess (Scarlett Johansson) is an up-and-coming politician running for a state senate seat. She is also getting married. Her lifelong best friend Alice (Jillian Bell) is throwing a hip and happening bachelorette party for her in Miami. Also coming are their college friends Frankie (Ilana Glazer), a political activist, and Blair (Zoë Kravitz), a mother going through a divorce and custody battle. Jess, much to the chagrin of her friends, also invites Pippa (Kate McKinnon), an Australian whom she met while studying overseas. They're staying at a posh Miami beachfront mansion, a gift from one of Jess' political donors. They hire a stripper, something Jess wants no part of but gets, anyway. When he arrives, he's almost instantly killed when Alice leaps on, knocks him backwards, and cracks his skull on the corner of the fireplace. The girls have no choice but to try and dispose of the body lest their weekend, and their lives, become ruined.

Rough Night fails to innovate and struggles through its trite comedy riffs that are more grating than gut-busting. The film flops about as it attempts to build legitimate character relationships that eventually turn to struggle as various revelations are made and the friends are pushed to the brink, not simply by their actions but by the realization that they haven't exactly been honest with one another. The established connections -- Jess and Alice are best friends, Frankie and Blair are ex-lovers, and the fifth, Australian Pippa, is literally a fifth wheel -- seem crafted less from an organic state and more to facilitate various scenes and gags. Much of the problem is that the movie takes the easy road with each one. Friendship that breeds hostility is sure to come back around to friendship, usually by some carefully planted plot device or line that screams "reconciliation" for some future point in the movie, including the broken romance between Frankie and Blair, a secret personalized greeting card, or the roundabout hostility towards Pippa as her presence "interferes" with the otherwise tight-knit quartet.

The failure to be consistently or memorably funny isn't for a lack of effort on the part of the cast. Scarlett Johansson is good as the slightly prudish Jess, the center of attention and political candidate who fears scandal and getting caught in some act that might diminish her chances of winning, as if her extremely awkward campaign ad hadn't already done irreparable damage. The hopelessly typecast Jillian Bell does her thing well enough, playing the spunky and spirited but vacuous best friend with the verve fans have come to expect. Kate McKinnon generates the most regular laughs with her comically-bent Australian accent. The rest of the cast is fine, which includes brief but important parts from screen veterans like Demi Moore and Dean Winters. Co-Writer Paul W. Downs' character isn't exactly memorable, but he is involved in many of the film's funniest scenes, including various cutaways to his "bachelor party" where surprise and excitement come from sipping wine with his friends and "getting crazy" by turning their attention to a chilled bottle.

Rough Night 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The included screenshots are sourced from a 1080p Blu-ray disc. Watch for 4K screenshots at a later date.

Rough Night's technical specs aren't listed on the movie's IMDB tech space page (ironic), but chances are the film was finished at a 2K digital intermediate. The 2160p/HDR-enhanced UHD presentation is fine but never overwhelmingly impressive. Most immediately noticeable is the uptick in fine detail. Skin textures are much more revealing, probably to the cast's chagrin, of pores and bumps and imperfections. That's a net plus over the Blu-ray, which is very strong but unable to showcase those most intimate details here. Otherwise, the image isn't appreciably superior in terms of textural clout. Environments that were sharp on Blu-ray are sharp here as well. Clothing finds a slight boost but things like odds and ends in the Miami mansion, for example, don't offer any sort of hefty improvement over the Blu-ray counterpart. The color palette is fuller here, but also a hair less vibrant. The image is notably darker overall, not significantly but enough so that some of the spunk from the Blu-ray feels missing. The trade-off is more deeply saturated colors, but make no mistake: the UHD is still super aggressive and colors are very robust and dynamic. Even as the movie feels a bit darker overall, basic black levels appear a shade less deep in nighttime exteriors. Skin tones are also a hair warmer. Light source noise remains. This is hardly a stellar UHD image, but it satisfies basic format expectations, particularly for a movie of this style and construction.

Rough Night 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Rough Night's UHD earns a Dolby Atmos soundtrack as opposed to the standard Blu-ray's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless presentation. Improvements are minimal. The 5.1 track is sufficiently robust, full, and saturating. The Atmos is all of that, too, with a tangible, but not significant, boost in stage saturation thanks to the additions of overhead and two back channels. Some of the more intensive sonic moments, such as the din at the frat house party to begin, offer a more intensive sense of place and space, opening up a bit more but not so much more that Blu-ray listeners will feel left out. Music and low end depth remain immersive and deep, respectively, and often complimentary. No significant, discrete overhead effects are to be heard; the top end is merely concerned with support. Dialogue remains firmly positioned in the front-center, well prioritized, and naturally clear.

Rough Night 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Rough Night's UHD disc contains no extras beyond the usual Sony staples: the cast and crew still photo tab and a collection of Moments (2160p/HDR/Atmos): Jess, Peter, Stripper, and Bachelorette Party. All of the base supplements can be found on the included 1080p Blu-ray disc. A UV digital copy code is included with purchase.

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 9:24 total runtime): Sunset, Singer/Songwriter, Club Intro, Patio Fire Dancing, Stripper Shows It All, Blair and Frankie Talk, Moving the Body, Taking Out the Trash, Drive Down The Miami Drag, Alice Checks On the Real Scotty, and News Report.
• Scandalous Sing-Along (1080p, 1:26): Sing a song about the girls' rough night with Pippa.
• Naughty Neighbor Diaries (1080p): Learn a little more about the sex-obsessed Miami neighbors in two extras: Video Dating Profile (2:02) and "Open Says Me" Questionnaire (2:35).
• Gag Reel (1080p, 4:13): As in "the obligatory" and "expect much Jillian Bell."
• Improv-O-Rama (1080p, 8:37): The cast offers a string of improv lines for various scenes.
• Killer Cast (1080p, 7:53): Everyone gushes about everyone else.
• The Dynamic Duo: Lucia and Paul (1080p, 4:59): A closer look at the film's director and co-writers.
• Playing Dead (1080p, 2:40): A short look at Ryan Cooper's work in the film.
• Do a Little Dance (1080p, 3:03): Making a key dance scene from the film.

Rough Night 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Rough Night isn't a bad movie for lack of effort. If anything it tries too hard but winds up merely duplicating the same sort of gags and lines and physical humor that constructs so many of today's interchangeable genre films. It offers passable time-killing laughs, but audiences expecting something memorable will walk away disappointed and wondering why they spent their money on a movie they've seen a few dozen times already. Sony's UHD is fine, offering an image that's appreciably sharper than the Blu-ray. Atmos audio doesn't mark a dramatic improvement over the Blu-ray's 5.1 track. No unique UHD extras of note are included. Worth a rent.