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Two years ago, real life brothers Mike and Dave Stangle made the news when they posted an ad on CraigsList looking for two girls to accompany them to Hawaii for a wedding. It was one of those quirky things that morning news shows love talking about, as most people would probably never even consider doing the same. It also became the subject of the new movie MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES. Zac Efron and Adam Devine plays Mike and Dave, and Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza play two women who set their sights on the brothers… but more importantly a fun trip to Hawaii.
We meet Mike and Dave (the movie versions) by seeing some of the past antics at weddings and parties. They’re very soon set to attend the wedding of their sister Jeanie (Sugar Lyn Beard) and her boyfriend Eric (Sam Richardson) in Hawaii, but the Stangle parents (played by Stephen Root and Stephanie Faracy) insist that the boys need dates and have to tone down their wild side for this very special occasion. So Mike and Dave get the wild idea of posting a creative ad on CraigsList, which soon draws a LOT of attention, even getting them on the news and The Wendy Williams Show. They “interview” several prospective candidates, none of which seem like good choices. Alice (Kendrick) and Tatiana (Plaza) are a couple of party girls with no desire for commitment, but definitely like the idea of going to Hawaii on someone else’s dime, so they come up with a plot to put themselves strongly in the running – and it works. Mike and Dave think they’ve found the perfect companions for their trip, but while one begins to form an unexpected bond, the other starts to suspect these girls may not have the best of intentions.
Raunchy comedies like this have become so predictable you can almost guess the next line before it hits, and the final moments feel telegraphed almost from the start. But it’s not really about the end of the trip so much, rather how we get there. The only real problem with MIKE AND DAVE is that all of the lead characters aren’t inherently likable, making it hard for the audience to want any of them to find success. Efron and Devine are fun as the dimwitted party brothers, but there’s nothing redeeming about their personalities, so it’s hard to see them as heroes or even underdogs we want to win. And Kendrick and Plaza are in some ways worse, as they’re playing a couple of manipulative harpies who care nothing about the men they’re using… well, there is a small subplot involving Efron and Kendrick finding comfort in one another to where they could potentially become something more, but it’s hard to buy that would work considering the agenda that got them together. While Zac Efron is the biggest name being pushed with the production, this is very much Adam Devine’s film, as he dominates the dialogue and screen time. I almost wonder if director Jake Szymanski (7 DAYS IN HELL) realized in the editing room that Devine and Aubrey Plaza had the most interesting interplay, and re-cut the movie to reflect them more strongly. Kendrick, who I normally love, feels a little miscast here and never quite finds a comfort level with Alice. Plaza fares better, playing her second sexpot character this year after the earlier Efron comedy misfire DIRTY GRANDPA, and in a weird way she finds a way to make that personality work. One of biggest surprises of the production is the baby-voiced Sugar Lyn Beard as the timid sister Jeanie, who finds some great comedic beats even up against the strong comedy coming out of the leads. Marc Maron and Jake Johnson have some fun cameos, and Kumail Nanjiani has one of the most hilarious scenes of the film playing a massage therapist.
The screenwriting team of Andrew Jay Cohen and Brendan O’Brien keep the comedy moving for the short 98-minute run time, and there’s plenty of strong laughs to be had, but there just seems to be something missing in the end. Again, these types of movies aren’t exactly surprising anymore, but one can always hope to find something unexpected amidst all the tacky humor. It should also be noted MIKE AND DAVE NEED WEDDING DATES is one of those “based on a true story” films, though to my knowledge outside of the CraigsList ad (which really happened), most of the story presented on screen is just all-too-familiar fantasy.
Born and raised in Dallas, Mark has been a movie critic since 1994, with reviews featured in print, radio and National TV. In 2001 he started the Entertainment section of the Herorealm website, where he contributed film reviews and celebrity interviews until 2004. After three years of service there, he started Bigfanboy.com, which has become one of the Dallas film community's leading information websites. Bigfanboy hosts several movie screenings in the Texas area, and works closely with film and TV studios and promotional partners to host exciting events and contests. The site also features a variety of rare celebrity and filmmaker interviews, and Bigfanboy.com regularly covers the film festival circuit as well. In addition to Hollywood reporting, Mark has worked for many years as an advertising and sci-fi/comic book artist. Clients have included Lucasfilm Ltd., Topps Trading Cards, The Dallas Mavericks and The Dallas Stars. From 2002 until 2015 he managed the Dallas Comic Con, Sci-Fi Expo and Fan Days events in the DFW area. He currently catalogs rare comic books and movie memorabilia for Heritage Auctions, and runs the Dallas Comic Show conventions, but remains an avid moviegoer and cinema buff. 
