PRE-SCREENING REVIEW: Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

   

   When I was a kid, I remember my father teaching me the importance of working hard and putting in a maximum effort in order to reap a high quality result. As I grew older I found that when it comes to being productive, my kryptonite was procrastination. Enter my late grandmother. I remember her telling me one time that the best person for a job is a lazy one, because they're going to find the quickest way possible to get the job done. I laughed, knowing full-well the weight of that truth seeing as I was, indeed, that type of person she spoke of. I've since learned the values set forth early on by my father and have tried to implement them in my life, and would you know it, by doing so I seemed to gain a greater reward in the end.

   Now you're probably thinking "What the heck is this guy talking about? I thought this was a movie review". Well, it is, and I have a point to this opening. Hopefully it's not too much of an out-of-the-way-comparison, because it currently makes perfect sense in my head. At any rate, I suppose I should just get on with it. I attended a pre-screening this week of the upcoming comedy Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates. The movie stars Zac Efron and Adam Devine who play brothers, Mike and Dave Stangle. They are not twins, though they're as inseparable as conjoined siblings. The Stangle Bros have a tendency to become rowdy at large family gatherings, and it's mainly because they rile each other up. They're doofuses who are genuinely looking to have fun unknowingly at the expense of others, whom they're oblivious to. When their baby sister decides to get married, the family holds an intervention, giving the brothers an ultimatum: shape up or ship out. They must find respectable dates to bring to the wedding (in Hawaii, all expenses paid), or they won't be welcome to join.

   Efron and Devine have fantastic chemistry together. Both have great comedic timing and utilize physical comedy that works. They play off each other well and their chemistry is what holds down the movie. I've really enjoyed everything Adam Devine has been in; he's a funny guy who can turn on the charm at any time. In this movie he plays up the part almost to the point of over-doing it, yet he still remains to keep some semblance of hilarity. Zac Efron has found his niche within the crude comedy. With both Neighbors and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, as well as Dirty Grandpa, he's able to keep things fresh in a genre that is otherwise crass and fairly cookie-cutter in nature. There is a lot of funny moments in the movie that come from both Mike and Dave and watching these two is really the best part of the film.

   The other side of this venture is Aubrey Plaza (who plays Tatiana) and Anna Kendrick (who plays Alice), the female doppelgangers to our two leads, who pose as "nice girls" and win the opportunity to be Mike and Dave's dates. Both girls come with their own set of baggage, and their efforts in their ploy don't last long before Mike and Dave learn the truth. Tatiana and Alice are really similar characters to Mike and Dave and I think that was done purposefully. Plaza and Kendrick are fine actresses and I've enjoyed their past work. Together they bring an added level of comedic flare to the story that compliments the Stangle bros nicely. Between these four characters, you'll have a good time watching them. They're putting in a 'maximum effort'.

   As for the rest of the movie, it's not quite there. Comedies today seem to have something in common with the horror films of today in that they can rely on cheap gags to garnish their precious, sought-after emotional responses; they get a lot of bang for their buck. For scary movies, it's the jump scares. They're cheap, lazy filmmaking tropes that get used over and over again, but they work most of the time and people seem to like it. For these raunchy comedies, it's the shock value. The difference between great films and lazy films within these respected genres is how they achieve their goal, their emotional response from the audience. If you're looking to just get as many laughs as possible without really earning them, adhere to my grandmother and allow the lazy-man approach to take charge. Take for example The Hangover and The Hangover 2. The first film works really well as a comedy because the acting, story, and execution was really well done. Sure, there were some generic comedic tropes used, but the heart of the movie didn't rely solely on those. The Hangover 2 however was ALL shock value and no substance. Outside of the four principle characters, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is mostly flat.

   I'm not saying the movie isn't funny, it is. But I think it could have reached greater heights as a comedy. It has potential to be a Hangover and not a Hangover 2. But really, I guess I may be asking too much from something that didn't seek to be more than what it was, which brings me back around full circle here. Mike and Dave... is a really funny movie because the characters are funny. The story isn't much, but for a movie like this you don't need it. I'd be lying if I didn't say I laughed throughout, or dropped my jaw as a shocking scene took place. I knew what I was getting into and I was okay with that, because it still worked. The movie finds the laziest ways to garnish its laughs and it still manages to deliver that. So, whether you're like me who loves the movies and wants nothing more than to see a quality movie each and ever time knowing full well it won't happen, or you simply want to escape the drudgery of everyday life which is mostly why movies even exist, this one should do the trick.


Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates opens everywhere July 8