Entertainment

Miley Cyrus Gets Funny In 'The Night Before'

by Dino-Ray Ramos

It's been a while since we have heard any huge news about Miley Cyrus, but once The Night Before opens in theaters, she'll be back on our radars again — and just in time for the holidays. The Hannah Montana star shows up in the holiday stoner comedy alongside Seth Rogen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Anthony Mackie, and while Miley Cyrus' Night Before cameo is a great one, it just isn't an instance of A-list stunt casting. She actually has a significant role in the movie, and the glimpse audiences got in the trailer of her singing with JGL while wearing a holiday-themed outfit is just the start.

In the film, Ethan (Gordon-Levitt) manages to get a hold of three tickets to the Nutcracker Ball, the biggest and most exclusive party of the year. Before he and his buddies go, the trio do their traditional romps around the city. This includes a stop at a karaoke bar, where they run into Ethan's ex Diana (Lizzy Caplan), who has just killed it with a rendition of "Wrecking Ball," her favorite. This is where Miley fits into the story.

Because later that evening at the Ball (Diana is there, too), Ethan happens to run into Cyrus herself, who's performing at the party. This is obviously a Christmas miracle. After an awkward exchange, Ethan tells her everything about his history with Diana and how his ex absolutely loves Cyrus' music. The singer is touched, and she tells a clearly still-in-love Ethan to propose to Diana — and with her encouragement, he agrees!

After he joins Miley on stage for a stirring performance of "Wrecking Ball" (it's actually pretty great), Ethan proposes to Diana, who's standing in the audience, and, well, things don't turn out exactly how he expected, to say the least. Still, it's a lot of fun to see Cyrus make a quick appearance in the film, and provide some musical accompaniment to a great scene. The singer's appearance was somewhat a surprise for me, because I didn't catch her in the trailer the first time around. I'm personally not a fan of her tongue waggin' and questionable appropriation of culture so when Cyrus first popped up on-screen, I wasn't too optimistic. Yet instead of doing something outlandish, Cyrus was actually pretty entertaining and subdued. She was just the right amount of "Miley," and her cameo really made me laugh.

Based on the trailer for The Night Before, you would think that the movie is just 101 minutes of pot smoking, shroom consumption, cocaine sniffing, penis jokes, and other debauchery — but it actually has heart and is full of "holiday magic," as Cyrus' cameo and "Wrecking Ball" show. It's nice to see that the hit song works on so many levels — it's a break up anthem, a make up anthem, and thanks to The Night Before, now a holiday anthem, too.

Images: Sony Pictures