Review - "Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates"

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates - directed by Jake Symanski

Starring: Zac Efron, Adam Devine, Aubrey Plaza, Anna Kendrick, Sugar Lyn Beard, Stephen Root, Sam Richardson, Stephanie Faracy, Alice Wetterlund, Mary Holland, Lavell Crawford, Jake Johnson, Marc Maron, Kumail Nanjiani, Wendy Williams, Erik Griffin, Branscombe Richmond

Screenplay: Andrew Jay Cohen & Brendan O'Brien

Music Score by: Jeff Cardoni
Cinematography: Matthew Clark
Edited by: Lee Haxall & Jonathan Schwartz

Running Time: 98 minutes
Language: English
Rated: R16 - Nudity, Sex Scenes, Drug Use and Loads of Profanity

If you have seen the trailer for this movie you have pretty much seen the entire thing in terms of plot.

What you haven't seen you should pretty much be able to easily see coming from about ninety minutes away.

"Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" is a low-brow, predictable, simple concept movie based (no doubt very, very loosely) on real events.

It stars a bunch of familiar faces from other comedies and is loaded with profanity, drug use and a sprinkling of nudity and sex.

But I liked it quite a lot because I laughed quite a lot.

We are supposed to believe that the events portrayed in this film are based on fact.

I haven't done a lot of research into the real story of Mike and Dave Stangle but they apparently did advertise for dates and ended up on tv and with a book.

In the film version the identically named Mike and Dave Stangle need dates for their younger sister Jeanie's wedding in Hawaii.

When they advertise on Craigslist and offer all expenses paid to the tropical island they are of course inundated with responses.

Everyone from prostitutes, men in drag and white supremacists try their luck.

The trouble is the boys parents have ordered them to get 'nice' dates in the desperate hope that such women will reign them in and they will break the habit of a lifetime and not ruin a major event with their drunken shenanigans.

They present a convenient nicely edited video montage of various party disasters for us so that we get the idea.

Cut to two drunken, slobbish women who can only really be described as female versions of Mike and Dave as they realise that a free trip to Hawaii is just what they need.

And that is about it for plot - all that is left are the details.

Zac Efron as Dave and Adam Devine as Mike..... far right Anna Kendrick and Efron

Poor old Zac Efron has had a rough box office ride of late with some dismally performing movies on his credit list.

"Dirty Grandpa" was pretty damned awful but I really liked "We Are Your Friends" despite it tanking.

The two "Neighbors" movies were fun and did well and I hope that this film follows suit.

Paired up with Adam Devine from the great "Workaholics" and the risible "The Intern" Efron plays the more likeable of the two loser Brothers.

The script frequently has characters comment on how much cooler / better looking / nicer Efron's Dave is.

Effectively he is the straight man here - not that there really is one but by comparison to Mike Dave is there for his dopier older Brother to bounce bad behaviour and stupid comments off.

Devine is very funny as Mike.

Judging by the end credit blooper scenes much of his dialogue is improvised.

The pair are really good together.

Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick - a great pairing

Arguably even better are Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick as the titular dates.

I like Aubrey Plaza way more than I probably should and Anna Kendrick a lot less than she probably deserves and I can't believe that no one had the idea of pairing these two up before now.

Kendrick plays Alice- the sweeter of the two women.

That isn't saying much given that Plaza's Tatiana is a self centred, manipulative, drunken nightmare of a woman.

But the two respect and care for each other every bit as much as the two brothers who they are using so shamelessly.

A scene where Tatiana talks her way out of sharing a room with Mike is terrifically well played by Plaza and Devine.

It is equal measure awkward and funny and comes with an hilarious punchline from Devine's Mike who has been masterfully manipulated by Tatiana's symphony of whispers and ear lobe nibbles.

The chemistry between the four leads is rather good and the film owes much of its success to it.

Sugar Lyn Beard as Jeanie - hilarious

The familiar faces don't end there with Stephen Root ("Office Space") as the Stangle patriarch, comedian Marc Maron cameoing as a bar owner being subjected to Mike and Dave's less than convincing sales techniques and Jake Johnson ("Jurassic World" and "Safety Not Guaranteed") playing a restaurant manager who fires Tatiana and Alice for being drunk on the job (and the tables).

A couple of faces that I didn't know also shine.

Alice Wetterlund is terrific as Cousin Terry - an agressive lesbian who hates Mike as much as she fancies Tatiana (this leads to a brilliant extended scene of hilarity)

Every time this character was on screen it seemed that I was laughing.

Even better is Sugar Lyn Beard as Jeanie- the bride to be.

A scene in which she gets a very exuberant massage from an Indian masseuse named Keanu (nice work from Kumail Nanjiani) ties in with the aforementioned Cousin Terry scene to great comedic effect.

Beard is perfect in this role and I am instantly a fan.

Her high pitched voice, super cute face and impressive comedic talents provide a high number of the laughs in this film.

Jeanie could have been a sideline character played purely as a plot device but in Beard's hands and with a script that gives her the chance the character is a scene stealer.

Yes- this is crude and it isn't going to redefine comedy or start a franchise but it is plenty funny enough and that is really all that matters.

At a reasonable 98 minutes it doesn't stretch the already thin material too far and no one in the almost full cinema I saw this in left their seat until all of the bloopers over the end credits had finished.

And there was a lot of laughter all the way throughout the film.

Despite many of the jokes being revealed in the trailers they still work in the final film.

And there are plenty more laughs left over regardless.

Oddly there are in fact at least a couple of scenes shown in the trailers that have not made the final cut.

The omissions have not hurt the final cut.

I wouldn't go and see this again - I suspect it is a 'oncer' but I enjoyed this movie a lot.

RATING: 73 / 100

CONCLUSION:  Dumb and predictable this may be but it serves up plenty of laughs and really that is all that is required of a comedy in my book.  Oh, and Aubrey Plaza.