PLOT: Mike (James Marsden) is a low-level enforcer for a crime syndicate who wants to run away with his lover, Alice (Eiza Gonzalez), but he has a problem. She’s married to his former friend, a vengeful gangster named Nick (Vince Vaughn), who, when he learns of the affair, sets Mike up as a rat in his organization, with him being marked for death. But a remorseful Nick from the future unexpectedly shows up, having somehow gained access to a time machine, hoping to undo the damage he’s caused to Mike and Alice’s lives.
REVIEW: Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is a movie that badly deserves a theatrical run but, for one reason or another, will be heading straight to streaming, premiering on Hulu on March 27th. It’s the highest-end movie to premiere on the service and is such a blast that one figures it would have done really well in theaters, but such is the state of the business nowadays that this high-concept action-comedy will never be seen that way. I saw it here at SXSW in a packed theater, and it rocked the house. It slaps and marks the arrival of BenDavid Grabinski (who wrote Scott Pilgrim Takes Off) as a major talent.
While some won’t be able to take the movie seriously because it uses a time machine, despite not being a science-fiction movie, it doesn’t really ask you to. The whole film adopts a kind of cartoonish anarchy that totally works thanks to the quality of the action and the committed performances by all three leads.
Vince Vaughn makes a welcome return to action as Nick, who, in the present, is a vengeful, cold-blooded gangster, but in the future is a man somewhat haunted by his own misdeeds, bitterly regretting setting up his friend to be killed. As future Nick, he has to not only win over Mike to make his plan work, but also somehow convince the mean-spirited present Nick to participate, and Vaughn expertly plays off both Marsden and himself. Vaughn gets to show off the comedy chops that made him one of the biggest stars of the 2000s, while also digging back into action for the first time since his two S. Craig Zahler films, Brawl in Cell Block 99 and Dragged Across Concrete, with the movie loaded with some major gunfights and violent scraps.
Yet, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice also marks a huge change of pace for James Marsden, who makes for a terrific action hero. His fight scenes are even better than Vaughn’s, with him really nailing the choreography while also not departing too much from the likable, easygoing presence he’s shown in his comedies. His Mike is a nice guy, with him convincing as a romantic lead opposite Eiza Gonzalez (who’s arguably never been this loose and seems to be having a blast), or a comic foil for the sharp-tongued Nick (both versions).
The film is set in a kind of heightened underworld, where a kingpin named Sosa (Keith David) is the boss and is celebrating the return of his beloved son, Jimmy Boy (Jimmy Tatro—who steals a lot of scenes as his amusingly moronic character), from prison. The cast is peppered with all kinds of recognizable names thrown into the fray, including Lewis Tan as an amusingly dumb muscle man appropriately named Road Rage Ryan (while Arturo Castro is funny as the aptly named Dumbass Tony). The film has to walk a thin line, as the tone has to remain comic but also set up real stakes, with Sosa being a legitimate threat—he’s so evil his favorite hitman is a cannibal who likes to eat his still-living victims (the ultimate identity of this killer, named The Barron, is too good to spoil).
Through it all, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice’s pace never lags, with Grabinski contributing some witty asides, such as repeated deep dives into the leads’ shared love of Gilmore Girls. The film is also packed with eighties and nineties needle drops, which—for once—aren’t the obvious, lazy choices. It’s also gleefully R-rated, with tons of gory carnage, especially in the final battle royale, which even has a few nods to John Woo’s A Better Tomorrow with how weapons are hidden for our heroes. It’s a rollicking good time and is easily the best action comedy I’ve seen in the last couple of years. And really, how can you not love a movie that starts with a Billy Joel song from Oliver and Company?
