Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) Film Review

When the sighting of an online advert went viral in 2013, ad-makers Mike and Dave Stangle could not have predicted that their little Craiglist listing would have captured the eyes of book publishers, colourful/insane date wannabes, and movie executives. But luckily for the two brothers, their connections lead to seven-figure deals and plenty of success, which is where this film comes in over three years later – borrowing mainly character names and the basic premise, but little more than that (they actually ended up with hometown friends). And with the castings of the likes of recent comedy conqueror Zac Efron (hot off the heels of two Neighbours films and the abysmal Dirty Grandpa), Adam DeVine (of Pitch Perfect fame and last heard in Ice Age: Collision Course), Anna Kendrick (also of Pitch Perfect fame) and Audrey Plaza (Dirty Grandpa and Parks and Recreation) – all reasonably popular actors – can this partial retelling of a true story hit all the right notes with its laughs? 

As you've probably figured out by now, Mike and Dave Stangle (Efron and DeVine respectively) are two brothers who's appearances at family get-togethers and parties often leads to a rather harrowing experience; often ranging from simple injuries to a full-blown heart attack. For the rest of their family, enough is enough, so it's elected by soon-to-be-married sister Jeanie (Sugar Lyn Beard) that the duo finds nice and respectable dates for their wedding in Hawaii. Being the mostly stupid and hapless guys they are, the Stangle brothers decide to post their invitation online, which goes viral and people flock to them in the hopes of getting an expenses-paid trip to the Aloha State. But it's their appearance on The Wendy Williams Show that attracts the attention of two slacker and recently unemployed girls: the overly crude Tatiana (Plaza) and the overly emotional Alice (Kendrick, who has an issue with weddings after being stood up at the alter of her own). Seeing an easy way of getting a free vacation, the girls grab the attention of the Stangles and successfully manage to make their way to the wedding; from there doing whatever they can to have a good time, even if it leads to the likes of serious injury, semi-adultery, drug usage, and even actually starting to form feelings for their dates.

As one can gather from that basic breakdown, what we have here is a simple case of 'actors going on a nice holiday but also making a movie' – a method so often penalised for such lazy efforts as the recent output of the Happy Madison company – except in this case it actually feels like they were planning on making a movie first, as it's a surprisingly entertaining venture. Granted, barely any of the jokes land (unless you're into the standard fare that sits between Grimsby and Central Intelligence) and there's barely any visual flair which will make the film stand out once the year is out, but it's not a painful viewing experience. An extended sex-based sequence that's surprisingly tame for a 15 certificate doesn't disturb as much as it disturbs a couple of characters in the film; the drug and porn gags are barely funny but they aren't deplorable; at most, it's a film which has a nice pace and basic story and isn't made awful by some terrible jokes – they're just jokes that don't fit my own personal tastes. 

What really works is the casting of the core four characters. Zac Efron is mostly the straight man of the group; not exactly smart, but with dreams he wishes to fulfil and doesn't jump into many of the major set pieces that the film throws at them for the sake of comedy. Out of the two romance storylines, his and Kendrick's is the tamest yet the most enjoyable, largely thanks how natural the chemistry between the two of them appears to, whilst his own relationship with brother DeVine is your standard bro formation. DeVine is more of the butt of the joke due to his dissimilar appearance to his brother, and plays more on the sexual humour with Plaza with a semi-love triangle between those two and Cousin Terry (Alice Wetterlund's bisexual stereotype), but is more tolerable than he has been in more recent fare. Kendrick is perhaps a bit more fleshed out than everyone else and delivers a fine performance to go with it, whilst Plaza still feels like she's trying to find her footing outside of her Parks and Recreation character. Here, she's more of a toned-down version of her character in Dirty Grandpa and with a tad more care for her co-stars. Parents Stephen Root and Stephanie Faracy do fine parent-standard performances; Sugar Lyn Beard is clearly having some fun with the whole ordeal; Sam Richardson as wannabe husband Eric is a likeable party-pooper; Wetterlund can be a tad aggravating and makes for a very loose and undeveloped antagonist; and Kumail Nanjiani is again stuck in a stereotypical role as a Hawaiian masseur (although he does feature in the film's biggest gag). 

As expected with these type of comedies, the direction by Jake Szymanski is mostly subpar. Granted, it's his first experience with a full-blown production, but the camera work is plain and simple and the direction towards certain actors is either over the top or barely noteworthy. But on his side is the Hawaiian landscape, which at least looks good in its own right; even if the more mentionable aspects it focuses on come across as more tourist-bait than a simple appreciation of where they are. 

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is hardly a memorable or insightful comedy, nor is it filled with creative decisions, but what it is is a standard mainstream comedy from the modern era. The jokes don't all hit, and the visuals are bland, but at least the characters we witness go through the events featured are likeable enough to warrant some level of entertainment to be had with the whole ordeal. 4/10.