We don’t get a lot of brand new genre mash-ups anymore, or genre mash-ups that feel brand new because they are executed at a scale and level of competence that we are able to notice. And when we do get them it is not always a given that they work, so it is a pleasant surprise when they do. Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, the invention of one BenDavid Grabinski, is a time travel crime movie, or a crime travel movie as I would like to coin. It marries those elements well, but more than that it has a personality to its script that accentuates beyond the sheer gimmick. There is a distinct Tarantino flare, especially around the pop culture references, but despite its violent world it does not feel as cynical or extravagant. Its storytelling and characters have some meat on their bones, some quirks that do feel distinct, and that is true of the movie’s tenor as a whole. Its title, which evokes New Hollywood classics Mikey and Nicky and Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, is indicative of its clever, tongue-in-cheek tone. And it is a shame to see it unceremoniously dumped on Hulu where it is not going to get the attention it deserves -it’s the kind of movie designed to play well to an audience.
Quick Draw Mike (James Marsden) is a gang enforcer looking to get out of the mob life when he is recruited for one last job by loan shark Nick (Vince Vaughn), whose unhappy wife Alice (Eliza Gonzalez) he has been having a secret affair with. But Mike is surprised when the person he is supposed to chloroform and stash in Nick's truck is Nick himself -the Nick he had been interacting with being from the future, having come back using the time machine of a client to save Mike's life, as Mike has been framed as an informant against mob boss Sosa (Keith David) and was going to otherwise be killed by a cannibalistic assassin. Future Nick and Mike, alongside Alice and eventually Present Nick, set out on a scheme to clear Mike's name.
It is a gonzo premise and one that in its irreverent style rises to the occasion. Grabinski’s script is dripping with a kind of self-awareness tinged by cultural references modestly reminiscent of Tarantino, though without Tarantino’s trademark excesses. The film is actually a little bit more light and easygoing given its subject matter and action requirements -and that is not a bad thing. There's an offbeat charm in the movie taking up time for digressions of sheer quirkiness, such as opening on Ben Schwartz as the time travel scientist enthusiastically singing along to "Why Should I Worry" (a Billy Joel song written for the Disney movie Oliver & Company) -played in full, or the four title characters relating their situation through a drawn-out argument about Gilmore Girls. In a lesser movie, perhaps less confident, these might feel like padding, but Grabinski carries them out in organic ways that compliment the action scenes and the film's overall sense of humour.
It is not always effective -as in a running bit where Mike doesn't understand Nick's often broad cultural references, but has its high points elsewhere. Grabinski gives Vaughn a decent return to form through several jokes that play off of his dual (but not really) roles. A chunk of the movie also hones in on Sosa's adopted son Jimmy Boy (Jimmy Tatro), newly released from prison, and his directionless cocktail of machismo and ignorance which Tatro is adept at playing (and there is a very funny routine where a friend hypes up his youthful sexual potency to the point it gives him crippling sexual anxiety).
Marsden gives his best performance in years, surprisingly endearing as the noble nitwit Mike, and his relationship with Alice is genuinely a meaningful one -beyond merely her desire to escape a dour and depressing marriage to Nick. Sadly, Alice is underdeveloped outside of being caught between these two men and she doesn't much partake in the action, but Gonzalez has some real highlights regardless, particularly via arguments with one or both Nicks. And Vaughn does a fine job distinguishing them, playing Future Nick as a man changed by the events originally meant to go down that night and working to bring out a better side of his past self -while not being too unbelievably reformed.
The movie deals with time travel and the inevitable subject of paradox in a manner befitting characters engaged in the world of organized crime -as in with a lot of narrow understanding and humour. To test the theory of whether Future Nick is impacted by Present Nick, Alice simply cuts Present Nick on his arm to see if Future Nick develops a scar. They have a very blunt way of relating to things in that world which Grabinski has fun with even amid his subversions. There is a level to which the storytelling can be haphazard, such as in the fast-track arc that Present Nick undergoes and the manner that one important plot point is hastily done away with -in both cases to sooner get to the heightened action climax. The action and the banter in concert with this concept are clearly the biggest priorities for Grabinski, and occasionally the movie misses the mark of unadulterated greatness because of this. There is a touch of something shallow to the stakes, for as much as their ramifications are highlighted.
Yet the efficient pace and energy make up for this. Grabinski isn't particularly distinct in his direction, but he is incredibly competent at achieving the tone and rhythm he wants -and that is as true of the action as it is of the dialogue as it of the comedy as it is of the moments of breath. He succumbs to a few aesthetic clichés but they don't distract from the movie's coherent attractive vibes. A beat of two Nicks gunning down gangsters feels as slick as Sosa gushing over his son while having a poor bystander beaten in the background or the gang in a moment of bittersweet lull singing along impromptu to "Don't Look Back in Anger" on the radio. The movie picks its needle-drops very well and often makes full use of them.
Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is perhaps deceptively simple and chill -obviously the movie is technically impressive in its doubling effects for Vaughn which are indeed seamless to the point you forget it is one actor. And while its contours are not grand, its visual filmmaking and designs are pretty sophisticated. Again, it is a shame it isn't playing in theatres where it looks better than quite a lot of movies that do. It ends also on a potential cliffhanger that is unlikely to be resolved; and while such a thing might be nice, the movie is still a satisfying fulfillment of its bonkers promise. One that is creative, ridiculous, and just the right level of cocky.
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