Hot Take: Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates

Hot Take: If you manage to not pay too much attention to the plot, there are laughs to be had. Don’t expect anything special or unique from the story and instead try to enjoy the sketch-like segments that interrupt the simple plot.

Sometimes you have to work with a movie to find enjoyment. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is one of those movies. It has a lot going against it. Some of the funniest parts of the movie are featured in the trailer. The comedy also feels rather derivative as it skims the pond scum from some funnier films. It doesn’t rip them off directly but you’ll feel like you’ve been there before. Despite those strikes, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates finds a way to be entertaining even with some noticeable blemishes.

How can a movie with a disheveled plot, hollow characters and a mixture of tired premises be entertaining? Well, chemistry for one. All four protagonists — Adam DeVine and Zac Efron as Mike and Dave Stangle and Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick as Tatiana and Alice — have excellent chemistry. Both DeVine and Efron work well together as well as with their wedding dates Plaza and Kendrick. Plaza and Kendrick also boost each other’s performances while on the screen together, too. The supporting cast also seem to be having fun with their parts even if their characters are one dimensional.

The pacing is a win, too. Mike and Dave has a breakneck pace as it barrels through one vignette to the next. Despite the wreckless path it takes, the movie never bothers to stop to look behind and see the carnage left in its wake. There are probably more jokes that miss than hit but the movie never wastes time trying to cram something down your throat to get you to like it but instead moves on to the next attempt to make you laugh, plot be damned.

If you’re looking for something completely mindless with the feel of Step Brothers, Wedding Crashers, American Pie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Hangover tossed in a blender and served extra clumpy, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates might be the movie of the summer for you. If you’re looking for smart, insightful or poignant, turn back now. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is not the movie for you.

“Spoiler Free” Pros

• The Will of the People
  The script is weak, the plot is thin and the characters lack any real depth. However, somehow the talent of Efron, DeVine, Plaza, Kendrick and the supporting cast power through this mess to actually deliver a fun time at the movies. Hats off to making as much as possible out of so little to work with.
• The Potential Date Montage
  Here’s an example of where the movie’s derivative nature works well. As far back as I can remember — the first movie that comes to mind is Coming to America — movies have loved the montage of seeing the protagonists interact with a bevy of different characters in a very short period of time to advance the plot of a “finding Mr. or Mrs. Right” movie. Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates has one of those early on in the film and pulls it off well.

“Spoiler Free” Cons

• The Performers Seem to Be Having More Fun Than the Audience
  Although it actually helps sell the movie, the fact that everyone in the movie seems to be having a lot of fun occasionally makes you feel a little left out. It’s almost like being invited out with a group of friends where one or two pairs have a much stronger connection or bond than everyone else and you’re not sure why they’re laughing so hard.
• The Road to Nowhere
  You might not notice until the credits roll but what really happened in this movie? Not much if you ask me.