[TCN Film Review] Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice

A gangster (Vince Vaughn) travels back in time six months. There he enlists the help of his best friend (James Marsden), his wife (Eiza Gonzales), and himself (also Vaughn), in order to save them all from his terrible mistake.

Now before we get into this, you might be wondering how a gangster could get his hands on a time machine, or what a time machine is even doing in a gangster movie. Well you could say that Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is a time travel movie involving gangsters. Either way, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is that this quirky combination of genres works, and it works really well.

The whole night revolves around the search for a rat, and a party (actually a series of parties) for Jimmy Boy (Jimmy Tatro), the son of Mike and Nick’s boss (played by Keith David), who has just got out of prison. Said rat is the reason Jimmy Boy went to prison in the first place, and now that he’s out, celebration isn’t the only thing on the agenda. To say more would take us into spoiler territory, but the whole movie hangs on the idea of fixing past mistakes – a chance many, if not all of us have wished for at one point or another.

At its heart the movie is more of a buddy action/comedy than sci-fi adventure, with Vaughn, Marsden, González and Vaughn sharing a fantastic chemistry. They bounce off each other in a way that, while very amusing, also seems rather reasonable given the crazy scenario they are caught up in. But the fact that the three/four of them only have this one night to fix things, means they never get the chance to dwell on the mind-bending craziness, giving the movie a sense of urgency. Marsden’s Mike finds himself very much thrown in at the deep end, as he is enlisted by Nick to subdue – to Mike’s great surprise – Nick.

Vaughn does a great job of distinguishing between the two versions of his character – with the help of some great costume design. He makes it both fun and interesting to watch Nick go through this experience, a major turning point for him, at the same time as we’re seeing him having already gone through it. Especially as future Nick has to try to speed up this process for his past self. Playing two Nicks also gives the Wedding Crashers star opportunity to deliver the more reserved performance of the movie, as he is the one in the know. While González and Marsden get to be a little more animated.

Along with all the time travel hullaballoo, writer/director BenDavid Grabinski also seems to be holding a mirror up to younger generations. A friendly but amusing way of letting them know that they might not be as cool as they think they are – something they may or may not realise, one day. In so doing he allows the supporting cast to actually bring something to the film. This includes the aforementioned David and Tatro, along with Arturo Castro and Lewis Tan, all of whom would otherwise have pretty much thankless roles. You should also watch out for a scene-stealing performance from Stephen Root. Thanks to them the party comes to life, and the hilarity goes through the roof.

But this wouldn’t be a gangster movie without a little violence, and thankfully, Grabinski delivers more than a little. From chasing down present day Nick – who is surprisingly wily, even when running from his future self – to a shootout in a rather gaudy mansion, it is all beautifully shot and well choreographed. Only these guys aren’t John Wick, so instead of intense fights between brutal assassins, we get messy brawls which devolve further and further into delightful chaos. Delightful for us, anyhow. And much like he did for the young ones, Grabinski also sneaks in a couple of amusing jabs at the action genre. Showing us the somewhat painful reality of a few things that have been made to look cool in movies.

In fact, the only thing sneakier than his jabs at action movies, is the movie’s ending. Grabinski is definitely trying to have his cake and eat it too, as he delivers an emotional gut-punch before trying to end things on a high note. Which is more than a little bit cheeky, but Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is a time travel movie, so I guess he can get away with it. After all, even time travel movies have rules. The trouble is, Grabinski does make it rather obvious what he’s going for, given that the way he sets up the gut-punch is pretty ridiculous… possibly even more ridiculous than time travel.

Apart from a slightly fumbled ending, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is a hilarious and delightfully chaotic blend of genres. Making it hard not to laugh as these underworld heroes urgently attempt to change their fate.

Review Score: 8/10

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is currently streaming on Disney+ and Hulu.