Review of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) by Tracy S — 16 Jul 2016

Zac Efron, Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza, and Adam Devine star in the new romantic comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Date. While the stars work extremely well together and the comedy mostly works, the writing and poor lack of vision really halts all progress being made and the result is yet another forgettable comedy.

Lets get this out the way first: the cast in this movie is hands down the best part of this movie. Ever since Zac Efron starred in Neighbors, he has shown his comedic abilities and he walks away with this movie. Adam Devine also comes out swinging and delivers a great performance. Anna Kendrick shows why she is such a big name in Hollywood and delivers a lot of heart as well as laughs. Aubrey Plaza also really works here and comes out of the role that we are so used to seeing her play. All of their chemistry works and make this movie a lot more tolerable.

The main point of a comedy is to be funny and while not all the jokes hit, the ones that do are downright hilarious. The comedy in this is very off kilter and very crude to say the least. The problem with it is that these hilarious moments are few and far between. There are some chuckles to be had in the low moments but you find yourself waiting for the next big laugh and sometimes they just don't come soon enough.

The story here is what really kills this movie, despite it's obvious title trying just as hard. The story here is that two brothers, who have a history of ruining family events, are being forced to bring dates to their sister's wedding and they end up bringing two girls who aren't as "nice" as they appear. That is literally the basis of the plot and it is as straight forward as possible. There is little to make you care about the characters, no deviation form the typical Hard R formula, and worst of all this movie is working towards nothing.

The entire time this film is running, there is no suspense or even point making the resolution wasted and unneeded. The entire film is built around the idea of maturing, but there are no arcs or even dialogue to back this us hardly. One character out of the four main characters gets some form of resolve, but even then it is rushed and has no real pay off. The entire point of a movie is to have a destination and this movie just wanders aimlessly and does nothing to try and deviate from the pattern that so many romcoms fall into.

Overall Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is just forgettable. The cast here really works and the comedy makes the blow a lot less painful, but there is virtually no story and no real reason to rush out and see this. This isn't a terrible film, but this definitely isn't a good one. If you do decide to see this, this might be best as a rental.