The comedic talents of Vince Vaughn are not put to good use in Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, a droning time-travel comedy that isn’t very funny—and is markedly less than clever.
Vaughn is the Nick taking up two spaces in the movie title, a gangster who comes upon a time machine and looks to right some wrongs with his co-worker and friend Mike (James Marsden). When he travels back to a fateful night involving Mike and his unfaithful wife, Alice (Eiza Gonzalez), Nick finds himself running around with another version of himself occupying the same space in time.
It’s a clever concept that was done much better in Back to the Future Part II. The problem here is that you have two Vince Vaughns, and both of them are required to be more dramatic than funny—in a comedy. Yes, Vaughn’s usual fast-talking wise-guy shtick has been utilized in seemingly every comedy he occupies, but it’s a reliable formula you can’t help but crave when there are two of him onscreen. Sadly, he’s just too reserved here.
Writer-director BenDavid Grabinski is all over the place with tone, and the movie has too many spots in which it drags due to that tonal inconsistency. Marsden and Gonzalez pretty much play things straight, while Jimmy Tatro seems to be the only major player who knows the movie is supposed to be funny. He gets some good laughs as a dimwitted henchman. Keith David and Stephen Root also manage a laugh or two in smaller roles.
It’s frustrating to see Vaughn not cutting loose in a vehicle that is seemingly inviting him to do so. No doubt, Vaughn has solid dramatic chops, and I would like to see him flex those skills—just not in a comedy, especially a comedy that gives us two reserved versions of him.
Chalk this one up as a missed opportunity.
Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is now streaming on Hulu and Disney+.