Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is funnier than it deserves to be, and with it, Zac Efron has officially recovered from starring in one of 2016’s worst wide releases. (Seriously, Dirty Grandpa was that bad.) Brothers Dave and Mike Stangle (Efron and Adam Devine of Comedy Central’s “Workaholics”) are notorious for ruining family gatherings. In order to protect the wedding of their sister, Jeanie (Sugar Lyn Beard), the boys vow to bring nice girls as their dates. Unfortunately, they use Craigslist and “The Wendy Williams Show” and wind up attracting dual trainwrecks, Tatiana and Alice (Aubrey Plaza and Anna Kendrick).
Wacky hijinks involve drugs, out-of-control ATVs and a naked Kumail Nanjiani; thanks to the game cast, most hit the target, even if the bullseyes are few. Efron and Kendrick are just so darn cute, and Devine recalls the manic energy of a younger Jack Black. (I think that’s a compliment.) Plaza was so dryly comic on “Parks and Recreation,” but Tatiana, like Plaza’s similar turn in Dirty Grandpa, lacks the subtle arrogance she has mastered. But don’t sleep on Sam Richardson; the “Veep” standout holds his own in his highest-profile role to date.
The raunchy, R-rated comedy does not have the best reputation, but Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates does not deserve to be pre-judged based on its laughless peers. By virtue of being about the only adult comedy show in town, Mike and Dave looks pretty good.
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