That's my takeaway from Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. It's not a groundbreaking movie. It won't be getting screenplay or acting awards (Ok, maybe an MTV Movie award). It isn't a turning point in anyone's career. In five years, it'll won't stand out among a dozen similar movies.
What it is though, is very funny, and that's all anyone was ever aiming for. This is director Jake Szymanski's first feature film, owing his career so far to a lot of TV work and FunnyOrDie shorts. Writers Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O'Brien wrote the Neighbors movies. If that doesn't paint the picture for what this movie is, I don't know what will. It's also a convenient way to determine if the movie is worth your time. If you hate Frat Pack humor and would like to watch a movie with more prepositions than swear words, please direct your attention elsewhere.
This has a great premise title. You see, these brothers, Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron). They need wedding dates. After years of being loose cannons who ruin family gatherings, their sister (Sugar Lyn Beard) demands that they arrive to her Hawaiian wedding with dates, hoping that will keep them under control. Mike and Dave post and online ad that goes viral is seen by two best friends, Alice (Anna Kendrick) and Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza), who are even more of a mess than the brothers. They pretend to be classier than they really are in order to get the brothers to pick them for the trip. Once in Hawaii, the girls unleash all sorts of hell which brings out the worst in Mike and Dave too.
The single greatest strength of the movie is its lack of restraint. No one is holding anything back and the script doesn't ask them to. This is actually the second raunchy comedy movie that Plaza and Efron have been in together this year (the first being Dirty Grandpa) and Efron's third R-rated comedy overall (along with Neighbors 2). This is also pretty similar to what Devine does on Workaholics. Kendrick is the most fun to watch because you can tell that she's wanted to do a role like this for a while. There's no vanity in any of these performances and they all have so much fun with that. One of the easiest ways to get me to fall in love with a comedy is convincing me that the cast had a blast making it. It's why I love the Apatow movies. Its's why I love the Ocean's movies. It's why I enjoyed this. The only difference among the leads is based on their backgrounds. Devine and Plaza cut their teeth in the comedy world. They live in this environment and there's an ease they bring to it, like it's reflexive. Efron and Kendrick, despite their many forays into comedy, have a harder time creating the laughs. They are still very funny, but they look like they are trying harder than their partners. I hope they keep at it though. They offer a lot to a movie like this, even if their improv game isn't quite there. The supporting cast, including Stephen Root, Sugar Lyn Beard, Sam Richardson, and Alice Wetterlund are all on point.
The script has the same third act problems that nearly every comedy movie has, where it drags a little as it switches to focus on the story rather than the jokes. It plays out very similarly to Wedding Crashers except it's 20 minutes shorter, which is in its favor. Overall, it has better balance than a lot of comedies, saving some of the best jokes for the end.
This is just a very funny movie made even stronger by four leads with a variety of talents. I went into this movie looking to see if this would out-Neighbors the Neighbors sequel. It definitely wins that head to head (with the sequel, not the original). Perhaps the better comparison would be to call it more of a successor to Wedding Crashers than The Hangover. Regardless, I want to see the outtakes for this one. And I'll say something that I don't think I'm allowed to say as someone who wants to critically talk about film: I'd love to see a sequel with these characters.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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