Hi everyone, Bryan here….

I think the vulgar wedding comedy has formed its own sub genre these days. With films like ‘Wedding Crashers‘, ‘Bridesmaids‘, ‘American Wedding‘, and ‘The Hangover‘, you have all the ingredients to make a modern audience laugh with toilet humor, vulgar language, sex, drugs, excessive amounts of alcohol, and a happy ending (pun very intended). The next on the list of this current sub-genre of wedding comedies is ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates‘, which is actually based off a real life story of brothers Mike and Dave Stangle, who took to the internet to find dates for their sister’s wedding, offering a free trip. They went viral, got a ton of responses, went on national television, and had a book come out.

Is there funny vulgar language here? Yes. Are there tons of drinking, drugs, and sex jokes here? Yes. That being said, there isn’t anything new or original here, and we’ve all seen this before, several times. Yes, there are some funny moments here and there, but the film really loses steam quickly, due to the lack of any kind of real story. Instead, it just moves from next joke to the next joke to the next joke, all which involve drinking, sex, drugs, or saying the word “fuck” a few times in a matter of seconds.

Here, Mike and Dave are played by Adam Devine (‘Workaholics‘) and Zac Efron, who take to Craig’s List to look for wedding dates for their high pitched voiced sister’s wedding in Hawaii. Mike and Dave are known to be the hard party dude’s who bring the fun and also destruction to every party they attend, whether it be a family party, a funeral, or friend’s rave. Their father (Stephen Root) tells them they need to not be the drunk assholes like they usually are at functions and be on their best behavior, and also need to bring actual respectable dates, instead of trying to hook up with every girl they come into contact with.

Enter Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick who play Tatiana and Alice respectively who are actually more ridiculous and ruthless than Mike and Dave themselves. However, the two girls play nice in order to get to Hawaii, which is when the big laughs are supposed to happen. Sure there are some funny moments with a hardcore massage with a happy ending, a lesbian scene in a steam room, and a naked drug induced scene with horses, but none of them really stick the landing in a big way. Sure, you’ll laugh here and there, but it’s mostly from the insane and hyper-vulgar dialogue from the actors and nothing more. Even that runs its course early on.

Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick are fun enough and have great comedic timing even if their characters are unlikable for the most part. Adam Devine is turned up to 11 here as the funny man where Zac Efron plays the straight laced guy. Their chemistry is energetic and it looks like they had a lot of fun in Hawaii, which is mostly why I think everyone decided to say “Yes” to this project – a free trip to Hawaii. Come to think of it, there was a better comedy made in Hawaii, which was ‘Forgetting Sarah Marshall’. Still, for a mindless summer vulgar comedy that has a tiny bit of charm, ‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates‘ should satisfy you for a minute or two when it comes out on Netflix.

Wait for Netflix!

-Bryan Kluger