‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ Review

‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates” is a strong reminder as to why good casts don’t make a movie necessarily good (or funny, for that matter).

‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ takes its audience for granted.

mike and dave need wedding dates
Photo courtesy of Steven Zang.

Don’t let the name fool you. Mike and Dave need much more than just wedding dates.
Let’s start with what we already know. The casting bill is pretty solid for a summer comedy. Having Zac Efron with Workaholic’s Adam Levine, Anna Kendrick and even Park and Recreation’s Aubrey Plaza is already a strong head start in the race. The synopsis: two brothers who look for “family-friendly” dates to their sister’s wedding in Hawaii, only to be tricked by two uncontrollable partygoers with a free trip in mind? For today’s definition of a 90-minute comedy, this hero’s journey actually holds a questionable amount of promise.

This all, however, begs one very defining question: What went wrong?

For a film geared towards raunchy, laugh-out-loud comedy, Mike and Dave had me feeling unusually quiet. It went through the appropriate stages, yet had them feel underwhelming due to crude behavior. Even the climactic realization of their idiotic, yet meaningful decisions is as elementary and predictable as a fart joke. And sure, I get it: 2016 is not the star-child of innocence. However, it’s just an upsetting realization that the movie industry has lost all hope in its audience.

Mike and Dave felt like it had a lot of potential, especially with the actors at hand” said Jenna Stuiso, 20. “However, in the end, it fell really flat. Some laughs here and there, but still flat.”

Overall, there are a couple of strong moments where a chuckle felt almost necessary. However, any laughs beyond that felt awkward and, unfortunately, forced. An example? Anna Kendrick trying to act as a wild partygoer feels as imbalanced as Zac Efron being brothers with Adam Devine. Between the f-bombs, the innuendos and the massively-random movie references that only led to bad character development, it strictly fulfills the wishes and demands of a 14-year-old boy sneaking into the movie theater. And that’s about it as far as money well-spent.

In other words, please use this as a fair warning: With crudity in mind, it’s time that someone comes clean about where comedies are going (for better or for worse).

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is now playing in movie theaters worldwide. Some local venues near the Montclair community include Clairidge CinemasAMC Clifton Commons 16, AMC Loews Wayne 14 and Bow Tie Caldwell Cinemas. For a list of even more theaters and show-times, visit fandango.com and start planning your next trip to the movie theater today!                                            

 

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