‘Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates’ lacks heart

'Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates' is a grubby little comedy aimed at the lowest common denominator.


It’s vulgar and unfunny with a script that traverses familiar territory and is plain stupid. Two brothers, Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave Stangle (Zac Efron), have never grown up to become responsible adults. They drink too much, are forever playing childish pranks, and cause a riot wherever they go. They wreck every family gathering and party they’ve ever been to. They are those kind of guys.

When they need dates to attend their sister Jeanie’s wedding in Hawaii they hit on a website (and a TV show) where they seek two adventurous, responsible women to accompany them, all expenses paid. What self-respecting person would not jump at this opportunity? Two girls who answer the call, Alice (Anna Kendrick) and Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza), pretend to be respectable, wholesome individuals – but at heart they are wild women given to taking drugs and drinking far too much.

They meet the two overgrown adolescents, hit it off, and then head for the island’s beautiful sun-drenched amenities for a series of bizarre happenings. And it’s not all good. Though there is the odd chuckle thrown into the uneven mix, Jake Szymanski’s production lacks heart and direction and chugs along to its inevitable conclusion. The acting is solid, but unremarkable.

At the end Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates gives us too much hangover and not enough fizz.

Watch trailer

Read more on these topics

Movie reviews

Access premium news and stories

Access to the top content, vouchers and other member only benefits