MIKE & NICK & NICK & ALICE - - Solid Action Comedy

Review by Adam Donato

Now that’s a mouthful of a title. Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is an action comedy about two gangsters who are trying to survive the night when a cannibal hitman is sent after them for being a rat. The film is written and directed by BenDavid Grabinski who previously directed Happily and more notably wrote the Scott Pilgrim Takes Off animated series for Netflix. This film is going straight to Hulu on Disney+ instead of getting a theatrical opportunity. The main trio consists of Vince Vaughn, James Marsden, and Eiza Gonzalez. Can this odd collection of cast members deliver a fun streaming flick?

Vince Vaughn is a veteran comedy actor. It’s been a long time since he’s been seen as a bankable leading man. Not that he hasn’t been in some good movies lately, but the days where he’s a box office draw are in the rearview. Here he gets a fun opportunity to play two characters as this action comedy has a sci-fi twist to it. One of his characters is the same guy, but from a few months in the future. Vaughn’s main strength has always been his ability to riff like a fast talking car salesman and that shows in this performance. The story centers around his friendship with Marsden’s character who is trying to get out of this line of work. Marsden has done a lot of family comedy movies during the past decade so it’s refreshing to see him in an adult comedy film. It’s easy to forget just how funny he is. Vaughn and Marsden have decent chemistry together and get a lot of time to develop their relationship as the film keeps things simple. Gonzalez feels like the odd man out here. She’s noticeably younger than the two leading men who act as her romantic options. This type of role is stereotypical for her career. She’s gorgeous, but not much else going on for her in this movie.

The supporting cast is really where the movie nailed the casting. Keith David is one of the most personality fueled actors working today. He’s clearly having a lot of fun as this evil mob boss. Same thing with Jimmy Tatro, whose character kind of subverts expectations here. Other welcome additions are Lewis Tan and Stephen Root, who are both able to make a comedic impression with the little screen time they have. Arturo Castro and Ben Schwartz are the weak spots here. 

Despite the sci-fi twist, the story is able to remain grounded in reality for the most part. The only time travel semantics that are really played with is the causality loop (if past me gets stabbed in the leg, will future me have a scar). The movie does a good job of not confusing the audience with time travel logic. The big emotional beats of the story are here thanks to the time travel element. It won’t have the audience in tears, but since the film does the work to develop the relationship between this trio, the ending delivers a satisfying conclusion. The action in the movie is pretty standard. The real draw of the movie is the comedic bickering of this cast as they navigate one hell of a night. 

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is an awful title, but a satisfying streaming watch. A nice little movie to flip on, but nothing that will stick with you a week later. It is just the nature of these streaming films to have the ability to just disappear into the void of content. While the box office may have not been significant, this has more to offer than a lot of theatrical releases so far this year. 

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is streaming on Hulu on Disney+ now!

Rating: 3/5