This review contains mild spoilers:
Another day, another comedy.
Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is the directorial debut (as far as movies go) of Jake Szymanski. The film was written by Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien, the writers of other Zac Efron vehicles such as Neighbors and Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising. The film stars Zac Efron, Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza.
Mike Stangle (DeVine) and Dave Stangle (Effron) are two party-hungry, rule-breaking, delinquents who ruin every family gathering they appear at, much to the chagrin of their immediate family. They return home one day to find that their parents (Stephen Root and Stephanie Faracy), and their sister Jeanie (Sugar Lyn Beard) and her fiancé Eric (Sam Richardson) have somehow broken into their house and waited for them, intervention-style. They lay down an ultimatum that stipulates both of the brothers must bring dates with them if they are to come to their sister’s wedding, the idea being that having someone to care for will dissuade them from engaging in their trademark antics. Not having a substantial enough social network, they turn to Craigslist and make an ad: an all-expenses paid weekend trip to Hawaii as the special, invited guests of Mike and Dave to the wedding of their sister.
The ad goes viral, bringing the brothers into contact with loads of scandalous and unsavory characters (basically what you would expect from Craigslist. The news reaches the mainstream media, and they are invited on a talk show to discuss their Craigslist ad.
Enter Alice (Kendrick) and Tatiana (Plaza), two drunken, rowdy party girls who are looking for a respite from their day-to-day life. By coincidence, they happen to see Mike and Dave on air and realize that the brothers are their tickets to a Hawaii vacation. Staging an injury, Alice and Tatiana lure the brothers in by posing as well-to-do, intelligent, and reserved women, exactly the kind of women the Craigslist ad called for. Realizing that the girls (or rather, their personas) are exactly the personality types their family is expecting, the brothers invite them as their dates to Hawaii.
Upon arrival to Hawaii, the girls’ real personalities slowly come to the fore, resulting in a spectacularly ruined wedding that would result in permanently ruined relationships among family members in real-life, but, since this is a movie, the day is saved by a last-minute by the brothers and their dates joining forces to throw the best impromptu wedding ever.
The movie, overall, is fairly entertaining. Each actor and actress are suited to their role, and you could tell that just under the surface they were struggling not to laugh at their own performances (accentuated by the included blooper-reel during the movie’s credit sequence). The movie isn’t overly complex, and while there are quite a few actors, their motivations and arcs are kept simple enough that the movie can handle them efficiently. The Stangle brothers and their dates, flawed as they are, are all well-intentioned, and they all learn that their antics and lackluster behavior can have unfortunate consequences. As dumb and careless as they are, none of the characters ever comes off as truly unlikeable.
The writing is pretty basic. The comedy is almost exclusively lowbrow, with some attempts (mostly successful) at unconventional editing to heighten the comedic performances of the scene (one reaction is replayed in rapid succession several times in a row).
The movie isn’t the best comedy in the world, but it’s certainly an entertaining way to pass the time.
Overall, I rate this movie 7/10.