Something About Mary (1998) shocked us into laugher in 1998 and was followed by a new wave of comedy: American Pie (1999), Wedding Crashers (2005), Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008), The Hangover (2009), Ted (2012) and more. Today, it feels like every other month there is a movie that wants to be the next comedy to out-gross or out-shock us. But watching these films fail for two hours is such a waste of moviegoer time. This week we have Mike and Ted Need Wedding Dates, and it is shock and awe-ful.
I wasn't counting on this to be the comedy of the decade, but with Adam DeVine, Anna Kendrick and Aubrey Plaza in the troop, playing attendees at a Hawaiian wedding, I thought we might have the next Forgetting Sarah Marshall to enjoy this summer. My best guess as to why none of this worked is that we've seen SO many similar films now and our social feeds are filled with primo comedy bites every day that this formula needs to be buried.
Making the film even more sufferable is the stiff Zac Efron as lead. I don't know why this guy is cast in so many comic roles without being able to sell a single comic scene.
The end credits of this film, with outtakes from Adam DeVine, give me hope that Devine's big moment in film could still come. I wish Mike and Dave had a hint of what I saw there.
Simply put: Mike and Ted need something funny to do more than they need wedding dates.
Award potential: None.
The ten buck review: Not worth ten bucks.
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