Cert – Recommended age 16+, Run-time – 1 hour 49 minutes, Director – BenDavid Grabinski
Gangster Mike (James Marsden) wants out of his lifestyle, when colleague Nick (Vince Vaughn) comes to his door he thinks it’s to confront him about Mike’s affair with his wife (Eiza González). It’s not. Nick’s come from the future to save Mike.
It can be easy to judge a perfectly fine film too harshly. It’s certainly the trap I fell into when first watching Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice. On first viewing I was expecting, and hoping for, more laughs; I found some of the extended riffs a bit odd and generally didn’t get into the film. Yet, the general consensus was that the film was fine, and watching it I did feel like I was missing something. The simple fact of the matter was that I was being too sniffy. On a re-watch the film is indeed perfectly fine, and those extended riffs – largely based around Gilmore Girls – when embracing the style of a film that has a slight made-for-streaming feel (it finds itself direct to Disney+ and Hulu), have a couple of chuckles here.
A time travel action comedy that doesn’t get bogged down in the time travel, we see gangster Mike (James Marsden) looking to get out of his lifestyle, perhaps with the wife of fellow gang member Nick (Vince Vaughn) – Eiza González’s Alice. However, when Nick turns up at Mike’s door one night he fears the worst, however Nick reveals that he’s from the future and is here to save Mike who’s meant to die that night. After knocking out the Present Nick (also Vaughn) and bringing along Alice, the four try to evade being caught by gang leader Keith David and thick-drink-enjoyer Jimmy Boy (Jimmy Tatro).
As forces close in or try to escape there are patches of likable humour scattered here and there. The cast for the most part are trying to lean into the humour of their characters even if the film itself doesn’t always seem to do so. There’s a tendency for some sequences, especially with the action aspects that are at play, to be treated straighter than perhaps they should be in terms of the tone and style of the moment. While the film may not get bogged down in the time travel elements it’s certainly still quite narratively focused and tries to keep things moving at all times, even with flashbacks and side characters. Sometimes this does mean that it feels as if pushing things along is put ahead of laughs, and not all the tangential moments quite click, especially more drawn-out beats involving brief appearances from supporting characters but for the most part things still manage to move along well enough.
As mentioned, Mick & Nick & Nick & Alice is a perfectly fine straight-to-streaming action-comedy. There are a few mild chuckles scattered along the way and the cast try their best to bring out the laughs even if the surroundings of a scene don’t always allow for them to come through, but the film as a whole is likable and watchable streaming fate. And that’s not necessarily a bad thing and shouldn’t be looked down upon. It shouldn’t be poked at or made to seem like it’s something lower just because of that. It’s still solid and good enough for what it does, and sometimes that’s what you need. Sometimes we (in this case I) need to be reminded of that, and that pretentiousness should be avoided as best as possible.
A perfectly fine and amusing action-comedy, if one that sometimes prioritises consistent plot references over laughs, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice doesn’t always tonally match the comedic performances of the cast, and feels made for streaming, but it still makes for likable fare with a scattering of chuckles along the way.
Just A Little Bit Random 