‘Mike & Nick & Alice’ is quirky

By Lindsey Bahr
AP Film Writer

“Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice” might look like a somewhat generic, glossy action-comedy on the surface. It’s got two (well, kind of three, but we’ll get to that later) men north of 50 ( Vince Vaughn and James Marsden ), one woman south of 40 (Eiza González) and the promise of some violence (you know, the fun kind). That’s not necessarily a bad thing — sometimes you get a “This Means War” or a “Mr. & Mrs. Smith.” But in the streaming era, more often than not you get, I don’t know, “Red One”?“Fountain of Youth”? Something else we’ve already all forgotten?

This might also be a streaming-era production, debuting on Hulu and Disney+ on Friday, but it’s clear from the very first moments that “Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice” isn’t just a generic facsimile of a “fun” movie designed for more for the algorithm than anyone’s amusement. No, this is a movie that begins, for no particular reason other than probably the delight of the filmmakers, with Ben Schwartz singing “Why Should I Worry?” a song that was written and sung by Billy Joel for the 1988 animated Disney movie “Oliver & Company,” a modern, New York City-set take on Charles Dickens starring dogs. Is it related to anything? No. Is it a fun song to set the tone that also made this elder millennial critic smile? Yes.

There are choices like this throughout the film, mostly through precise, lighthearted banter that sounds real. There’s even a spirited debate about the best and worst boyfriends on “Gilmore Girls” — Rory’s, not Lorelai’s, which falls a little flat in execution. I’m not sure the actors’ hearts are really invested in Logan and Jess the way, say, Liam Neeson was able to act genuinely distraught over his “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” episodes being deleted off his DVR in “The Naked Gun.” But it’s an amusing idea nonetheless.

They’re all hyperspecific references that feel almost reassuring that yes, a human, in this case writer-director BenDavid Grabinski, made this thing and not a computer. Like Rory Gilmore, Grabinski’s interests are “teasingly diverse” (cats! Time travel logistics! Symon spelled with a “y”!) and they do also include elaborate, stabby, shoot-’em-up action sequences that could very well have fit into a Doug Liman or McG studio pic from 20 years ago, with grenades, blood and a fair amount of butt-kicking.

The loose construct is that a hit man named Nick (Vaughn) time travels back to a certain night to save his friend and colleague Mike (Marsden), who is in love with Nick’s wife Alice (González). For a fair amount of the movie there are two Nicks, present Nick and future Nick (it’s not a spoiler if it’s in the trailer! And the movie’s title!). Vaughn manages to give his character some unexpected depth too. That there’s some real acting going on is pleasantly surprising.

Everyone in the big ensemble, which includes Keith David as the mob boss, Jimmy Tatro as his dim son, Emily Hampshire as a crooked and horny police officer, as well as Arturo Castro and Stephen Root, is game for a good, silly, violent time. Are any of them remotely believable as humans? Not exactly, but that’s also not the point of this kind of movie, which also overstays its welcome by a little bit. There’s just not enough there to warrant its runtime.

But ultimately “Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice” has a few good laughs, some inspired needle drops, quirky references and a go-for-broke energy that should make it an enjoyable, low-stakes click.

“Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice,” a 20th Century Studios release streaming on Hulu and Disney+ on Friday, is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for “strong/bloody violence, pervasive language, sexual material, and drug use.” Running time: 107 minutes.