Rating 6/10
The title immediately evokes Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, a 1969 snapshot of changing social norms. That film was unmistakably of its moment, a conversation-driven drama where the stakes came from emotional boundaries, not body counts. This one runs a group through a wall of bullets, time loops, and existential dread. It’s an intense mix of violent action and science fiction that never quite settles on a tone. One minute it’s riffing like a buddy comedy, the next it’s dealing with bloody assassins.
After his adopted son (Jimmy Tatro) is released from prison, mob boss Sosa (Keith David) throws a party with his crew. Among them are loan shark Nick (Vince Vaughn) and hitman Quick Draw Mike (James Marsden). Mike is secretly involved with Nick’s wife, Alice (Eiza González), and wants to leave the criminal life. Mike agrees to help Nick with a hit. During the job, he discovers something shocking: the man who hired him is a version of Nick from the future. This sets off a chain of strange events. These include the discovery of a time machine connected to one of their associates (Ben Schwartz). As tensions rise, loyalties begin to shift. Mike finds himself caught in the middle of it all. Soon, he becomes the target of both his own crew and a larger conspiracy.
A perfect version of this movie belongs to the late-1990s to early-2000s era of mid-budget studio films. The kind of offbeat, high-concept comedies that major studios used to release in theaters without needing to turn everything into a franchise. It’s built around a cute premise: a small circle of messy, intertwined relationships complicated by a time-travel twist. That setup suggests a breezy, character-driven romp, where the joy comes from watching personalities collide. The dialogue between Nick and Mike, who bicker incessantly, is a lot of fun. Nick’s love for Alice faded a while ago. Mike’s affair with Alice further complicates matters. These interactions should have been the focus. Not a series of gratuitous murders. An extended debate about the TV show Gilmore Girls should delight fans of that show. I’ve never seen an episode.
Mike & Nick, & Nick & Alice could have been so much more. I like this way it blends various genres. Unfortunately, this devolves into another entry in the modern streaming content pipeline. Sure, it’s perfectly serviceable as background entertainment, but it rarely rises to the clever character drama that it clearly aspires to be. The dialogue is light and playful, and the needle drops are ridiculously out of left field. Any movie that opens with Billy Joel’s “Why Should I Worry” from Oliver & Company has its heart in the right place. However, the film keeps undercutting that whimsy with a barrage of hard R-rated brutality and foul language that is completely at odds with the witty repartee. Writer-director BenDavid Grabinski doesn’t know the meaning of restraint. The brutality weighs it down, dampening the charm from a premise that is nimble at its core. The narrative keeps things moving but never quite clicks into something truly memorable.
On Hulu since March 27
04-06-26