About Last Night Movie Poster Image

About Last Night

age 17+
(i)

 

Sexy, funny adult romcom gives insight on love, friends.
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  • Review Date: February 12, 2014
  • Rated: R
  • Genre: Romance
  • Release Year: 2014
  • Running Time: 100 minutes

About Last Night gallery

What parents need to know

Positive messages

Friendships will see you through breakups. A good relationship requires clear and honest communication, plus heaps of patience.

Positive role models

Danny is a good guy, through and through, even if he sometimes has trouble expressing his feelings. Debbie, played by Joy Bryant, is also a decent person with an open heart, and their friends are loyal. They don't always handle relationship situations well, but they don't purposefully hurt others. One character's humor is sexist at times, in one instance calling women who rebuff his advances "lesbians."

Violence

Some yelling and storming out of rooms. A woman slaps a man, out of anger, and later out of playfulness.

Sex

Lots of graphic sex jokes, with mentions of sex acts including various types of oral sex. One character constantly talks about how much sex he's having, and how, using colorful descriptions. Lots of passionate kissing in bed with mostly naked bodies, though breasts and backsides are artfully concealed by bedding. Occasional side-views, but no frontal nudity. Some scenes imply sex acts, though they're played for laughs.

Language

Constant swearing, though much is used in humorous situations: "moron," "s--t," "ass," "d--k," "p---y," "bitch" and multiple variations of "f--k."

Consumerism

Many labels flashed and name-dropped, including Sprint, U-Haul, Sony Vaio, the Container Store, Guiness beer, Starbucks, Nokia, Facebook, Krispy Kreme, Popchips, Ziplock and more.

Drinking, drugs, & smoking

Lots of scenes showing adults getting inebriated while out with friends, and sometimes it leads to confrontations and loud public arguments. Two friends share a joint at a party.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that About Last Night is a hilarious remake of the 1986 classic, based on a David Mamet play, that trades in mature sexual themes: one-night stands, relationship woes, breakups, infidelity, friends with benefits, and more. Men and women freely discuss sex acts with friends; one character makes sexist jokes. Expect lots of swearing (from the fairly tame "moron" to various permutations of the F-word) and hard-core drinking and one scene with people getting stoned, plus sex scenes that don't show breasts, backsides, or genitals, but definitely imply specific acts.

What's the story?

A remake of a 1986 movie, itself based on the David Mamet play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago," finds Danny (Michael Ealy), a restaurant supply salesman, in an are-they-or-are-they-not-dating situation with Debbie (Joy Bryant), a business executive, whom he meets while playing wing-man to his best friend Bernie (Kevin Hart). Bernie has had a one-night stand with Joan (Regina Hall), who happens to be Debbie's roommate. Bernie's up for another hook-up with Joan, but Danny ends up going home with Debbie, too. They make an instant connection, but neither is sure if they're ready for a full-on committed relationship. They can't resist each other, either, so off they go. But are they moving too fast?

Is it any good?

QUALITY

Remakes are minefields: They can blow up if not done right. Fortunately, ABOUT LAST NIGHT lays no such trap. It's terrific. Start with four leads who bring their A-game. Michael Ealy is especially smooth, his Danny a believable modern guy who's flummoxed by modern-day relationships. Kevin Hart, as the mouthy, funny Bernie, risks going over the top sometimes, but never does, and he finds the most hilarious beats in every line. Ditto Regina Hall. If there's a weaker link among the four, it's Joy Bryant, and only because her character isn't as ostentatious or befuddled. And her chemistry with Ealy is there, though not sizzling, which makes their supposedly irresistible connection slightly less convincing.

There's not much that will shock audiences here, since the "sexual perversity" from the play on which this is based -- romantic confusion amid lots of hookups and miscommunication -- isn't all that perverse anymore. Still, most everyone can relate to the intricacies of navigating friendships -- especially when one is single and the other isn't -- and the ambivalence and ambiguity that permeates the first months, even the first year, of a relationship. About Last Night reminds us how awkward and tension-filled that can be, and how rewarding it often is.

Families can talk about...

  • Families can talk about the film's take on hooking up, relationships, and breakups? Does it add anything new to the conversation?

  • How does the movie portray friendship? What makes them great friendships (or not)? Do they trade on stereotypes of men and women?

Movie details

Theatrical release date:February 14, 2014
DVD release date:May 20, 2014
Cast:Kevin Hart, Joy Bryant, Michael Ealy, Regina Hall
Director:Steve Pink
Studio:Screen Gems
Genre:Romance
Topics:Friendship
Run time:100 minutes
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:sexual content, language and brief drug use

This review of About Last Night was written by

S. Jhoanna Robledo
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are conducted by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

Quality

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  • Very Good: Engaging; good learning approach.
  • Good: Pretty engaging; good learning approach.
  • Fair: Somewhat engaging; OK learning approach.
  • Not for Learning: Not recommended for learning.
  • Not for Kids: Not age-appropriate for kids; not recommended for learning.

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Parent of a 3 and 13 year old Written byLily Crawford February 27, 2014
age 15+

About Last Night- appropriate for teens

I definatly had some doubts about this movie at first. I thought it would be extremely sexual. Even though their were some sexist jokes made, and some drinking scenes, I don't think the movie was that innapropriate. Their was no nudity or extremely sexy scenes. There was a bit of swearing but nothing too bad. This is a good chick flick, feel good movie about relashionships, and frienships. I reccomend it for a child 15 or over. Overall, it was a very funny and uplifting film.
What other families should know
Too much swearing
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Parent Written byAndrew Padilla February 27, 2014
age 14+

Honestly, it's not that bad

I think this movie is not as sexy and innaporpriate as it seems. There are some sex scenes and drinking scenes, but nothing kids 14 and up can't handle. At this age, children are wacthing these kind of movies all the time and this one is nothing out of the ordinary. This is mostly about relationships and toubles that even a simple "I love you" can face. It does talk about one night stands and there are many in the movie, but the moral is that a one night stand is never good, which promotes a good message. I think this movie is very humorous and I think many teens will enjoy it.
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Teen, 17 years old Written byB-KMastah February 21, 2014
age 16+

It's not terrible, but it doesn't deserve the good reviews that it's getting.

I probably wouldn't have seen this if it weren't for the reviews, but after seeing this, I'm kind of shocked that this is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm not saying it was terrible, because it was fine, it's just that not much makes this stand out from other romantic comedies aside from the actors being pleasing to watch and a few guffaws. After a really really messy and borderline dismal first 15 minutes, this takes a random shift into well-written humor that is legitimately funny, however, it tries too hard to be raunchy and it completely fails on that level. It's like they felt so liberated that this is an R-rated rom-com so they just went all out at certain parts, and it totally fell on its face at all of those parts. If you're going to make sex jokes, make them really work like in Bridesmaids or This Is the End. The several dick jokes are just stupid and literally remove all wit that is set up by previous scenes, and if this wasn't written by a woman, I would kind of find it to be misogynistic at times. It also feels too long, and it's only 100 minutes. The middle 60 minutes work, and the test just feels like various parts of fluff. This is way better than I thought it would be, but I'm also shocked that this currently has a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes because they really could have edited the script and cut down on the raunch, and maybe they could have created a less traditional and predictable ending. 6.6/10, okay, one thumb barely up, average, etc.
What other families should know
Too much sex
Too much swearing
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