Mike et Dave cherchent compagnes pour mariage

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates was humorous and quite entertaining. It has somewhat of a plot and was enjoyable. Some scenes could have been removed however. It was thankfully not too vulgar and relied on the performances of its four main cast members to bring it home. There was great chemistry between the four, some funny moments that most audiences should laugh at and slightly sentimental too. Audrey is a natural treasure but the weakest link was Anna Kendrick who was not as funny as she was annoying. You know this film is not in the running for any Oscars but it exists to entertain and achieved that. Glad I watched it.

OK, this is my second official review on IMDb for a film that's had a bit of a bashing by some, a little bit intimidating if I'll be honest. Part of me wants to agree with the guys and gals that have given this sub-5. It doesn't have the depth that some comedies have, not all the characters are likable, some of their arcs are frankly unbelievable, and I have no idea whether some of the scenes are even slightly possible. If yes, sign me up, you'll know which scenes if you watch the film!

However

Did I laugh my ass off for the best part of an hour and a half? Yes. Was I stone cold sober? No. Would I watch it again? Absolutely.

Effron doesn't display the awesome acting you might be expecting from some of his other films, but he's definitely funny (if a little crass and childish at times, but hey it's called "Mike and Dave need Wedding Dates, what are you expecting?!?? My regular movie buddy even turned to me and said so much).

There's romance, there's comedy and, kind of, adventure (not sure on the one film classifiers at IMDb). Focus on the comedy. Accept that this is childish. Pour yourself a glass of something yummy, and just enjoy it for its silliness. Simple fun to be enjoyed by anyone who can see past some of the stupid lines, nonsensical plot themes and obvious set ups. Still enjoyed it though!

Zac Efron has starred in no shortage of comedies lately. With Dirty Grandpa and the Bad Neighbours franchise under his belt, he is really starting to flex his comedic muscles (so to speak). Therefore, it comes as no surprise that he stars in this hilarious 'loosely based on true events' romp, Mike And Dave Need Wedding Dates.

Zac plays Dave Stangle, a dim-witted lad who is in the alcohol business with his equally dim older brother Mike (played by Adam Devine, who you will remember from Pitch Perfect and Modern Family). Both are notorious for their destructive behaviour at family get-togethers so when they are confronted by their fed-up father to bring sensible dates to their sister's upcoming destination wedding, they are on a mission to find the perfect girls.

They end up with Alice and Tatiana (played by Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza respectively) who are far from wholesome but manage to convince the boys that they are. It's not until various unconventional situations occur that the ladies' true colours are revealed to the Stangle brothers who are now facing the dilemma of potentially ruining yet another family event.

This film is what you would expect – a lot of crude humour and ridiculousness so don't expect anything more. My biggest fear was that (like most movies of this nature) the best bits are all in the trailer, leaving the film empty of anything fresh however I can safely say there are plenty other laughs to be had throughout. No Oscar nominations here, but a fun and easy watch.

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They think they have just made them all better parties, but to their parents and to admittedly, reality, brothers Mike (Zac Efron) and Dave (Adam Devine) have only ruined all of the family events they've participated in for their wild party style. So when its Jaine's (Sugar Lyn Beard) turn to get married the family is taking no risks: Mike and Dave are to bring wedding dates to the wedding in order to be kept at bay. That's when Alice (Anna Kendrick) and Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) put on the façade of being nice and ordinary girls to score a free weekend in Hawaii after discovering an advert from the two brothers. Yet when the chaotic spirits of both pairs start to explode, an apparently normal weekend turns into a ludicrous series of events.

"Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" has good and charismatic leads, with natural comedic timing and an appropriately funny cast built around them with a script that has some effortlessly funny gags working. Yet, a fair amount of laughs are not enough to surmount the film's lack of heart, which often transpires into both annoying and unmotivated sequences and humor which is close to being mean spirited.

What severely lacks from the film is a fresh and interesting comedic voice. As much as you feel the director's passion, I couldn't help but feel very cold about the style and visual choices the film makes. It is directed with almost no life, it doesn't feel alive and breathing, the shot choice is for the majority so basic it made my head ache at some point. There aren't any passages in the film where you feel inspired filmmaking and character or story being given a chance to flow. The editing is very mechanical and brings the film into feeling more like a series of gags, which might be occasionally good, but lack any kind of drive given the very predictable and clichéd script.

Still, there's no denying the talent almost everybody has for comedy and even when handed what for most is very average material they manage to elevate it and thanks to what is sure to be a lot of improvisation they make the scenes that work, work really well and transcend what are otherwise deeply problematic character development elements. Efron's career has lately been all about these R-rated comedies and I have to admit I am one who really enjoys his effort in these: he is a great screen presence and always brings a palpable irony to the scenes. Adam Devine at this point is an enigma for me, I have no idea where he'll go in the future, that is because he has some really borderline annoying stuff here, but I don't know if it's thanks to him or the gag in itself I was never brought to a breaking point. I enjoyed probably all of his beats and he had many different ones to bring alive, succeeding in all of that variety.

What is frustrating about the movie is how standard it feels and how much everything around it is striving to be better, but what we end up is this basic studio comedy that goes through every single beat we except and leaves the audience with little passion at all. The premise is right, the talent behind cast well, the script is trying to go to fresh places occasionally, but there is an incredible aura of average all around that simply flattens the film to the point of annoyance. Not to mention the ridiculous quantity of screeching women all over the place that had me almost covering my ears.

"Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates" is a film that delivers some good and at times great laughs thus succeeding a laugh prompter, yet a comedy film it lacks any depth of character or story to make it live any further than its closing credits unfortunately.

Just watched this with my movie theatre-working friend-who had seen this before and enjoyed it-and his nephew. It's quite raunchy and has plenty of current pop culture references which I found quite funny. There's also some slapstick scenes that were also good for some laughs. There were also some touching ones. Zac Efron and Adam Devine and Audrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick fit their roles and do their stuff to mostly good effect. We're told this is based on a true story...sort of. No doubt much of what is on screen is exaggerated for comic effect. This is mainly just the kind of movie just meant to entertain though some lines do make one think of what one's destiny is. Overall, I very much enjoyed Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates.