Review of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) by Jpmanistan — 08 Nov 2016

I wasn't planning to watch this. It looked like derivative, unfunny garbage from what I'd seen on previews. But my wife and I watched it b/c I'd already rented it on Google Play Movies for my cousin to watch and he didn't and it was about to expire.

We were pleasantly surprised. The plot, though based on a true story, it contrived and serves only to get the characters to Hawaii for a wedding farce that feels sweet and old-fashioned at times, but which is also crass without crossing the line.

Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick play "bad girls" that a pretty two-dimensional. It takes until the end of the movie before they (especially Plaza's character) have any real depth or motivation whatsoever. And that's partly the point--that they're vapid losers trying to scam the guys out of a vacation. But by the end they are given some depth and throughout the movie they are both serviceably funny. Plaza's accent though (ebonics? Jersey? hard to tell) comes and goes and is gone by the end of the movie. Her schtick from Parks & Rec's April Ludgate comes through here (dry, sarcastic, cold) but is not as funny on the big screen. She could benefit by being a little more human. Anna Kendrick seems out of place playing a "bad girl" but she does a decent job with what she's given.

Once the cast gets to Hawaii, the movie is a pretty generic mix of Wedding Crashers (which is referenced in the movie), Forgetting Sarah Marshall, and half a dozen other movies. The hijinks are not surprising, the plot is very predictable, and nothing will surprise you.

What makes the movie good, though, is what the cast does with the material. Zack Efron is actually very funny, but Adam Devine steals the show. I love Workaholics, and if you don't you might not feel the way I did, but his manic, hammy, over-the-top schtick comes across as sweet, genuine, earnest, well-meaning, and most of all... hilarious. So much humor today involves insults and people generally being terrible to one another. But he plays his character as very good natured (despite some quick lines that could be mean, but seem corny) and weird enough not to seem generic. The two guys play well off each other and they and the rest of the cast ad lib a lot of really funny lines. I laughed out loud a couple dozen times, which is a lot for me given recent comedies. And sometimes I'd still be laughing at something a minute or two later. Some of the comedy is pretty multi-layered for such a basic movie.

The supporting cast is very solid. Stephen Root as the dad is great. Kumail Nanjiani as a masseuse had me cracking up. And I can't finish the review without mentioning Alice Wetterlund as "Cousin Terry," or, as Devine calls her at one point, "Bisexual Fonzie." She has 3-4 scenes, but steals them all. Her character doesn't fit in and is kind of throwaway, but she's consistently hilarious every time she's on screen.

All in all, definitely worth a rental. Despite the good-naturedness of the movie, it is really raunchy. Foul language throughout, nudity, sexual acts, and prevalent, so heads up. Don't watch it with grandma.