BEFORE: Zac Efron carries over from "Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising", for a film that perhaps would fit in an a February chain, since it's about dating, but I need it tonight for the linking purposes. Anyway, it's another recent comedy about people acting poorly, which is turning out to be a little mini-theme for the week.
THE PLOT: Two hard-partying brothers place an online ad to find the perfect dates for their sister's Hawaiian wedding. Hoping for a wild getaway, the boys instead find themselves out-hustled by an uncontrollable duo.
AFTER: Between the young, self-absorbed sorority girls in last night's film, and tonight's youngish, self-indulgent brothers in today's film, it's clear that Hollywood is sending us a message - millennials are terrible people at heart, all of them. Anyone born after, say, 1985, is no good at being an adult, what with their text messages, online dating, party-hearty lifestyles, and never, ever, one ounce of consideration for other people. Based on what I've seen in real life, I have to support this message.
So when Mike and Dave are asked by their parents to please, for once, not get out of control at a family party, the parents know that asking them to change would be impossible - again, it's because the entire generation is out of control (because their Gen X parents all vowed to NOT be like their controlling, abusive Baby Boomer parents, so now none of these youngsters have any discipline at all...). The best the parents can do is to force the boys (and they do act like boys, not men) to bring dates, hoping against hope that being near women and focused on them might improve their behavior.
Unfortunately, the best women that answer their ad (though they pretend to meet them another way, because responding to the ad would expose their hidden motive) are in it just for the free vacation, they don't have any intention (at first) of being on their best behavior either, or for that matter, sleeping with their dates. See, the women are JUST as self-indulgent and duplicitous as the boys, which I suppose is a step forward for feminism, but is this really the type of equality that women should aspire to? Why not aim higher, to be BETTER than the men, when that would be so easy to achieve?
In a way, the girls are superior to the boys here, because they make lying and acting out of control seem so easy - whether it's drinking, taking drugs or leading the boys on with the promise of sex. Girls rule, boys drool, right? The boys are much worse at lying or hiding their true intentions, and more easily prone to fisticuffs - so once again, this film really does have a handle on what the young kids are like these days. As a result, even though it seems like occasionally characters have the best motives here, nobody really does, and everyone's just looking out for themselves, which sums up millennials perfectly.
Finally, at the end of the film, when everything is in shambles, everyone learns to think about someone other than themselves, and this foursome pulls together to make the wedding happen. But even then you have to wonder if they did all that just so they could perform a song and dance at the reception and once again, it's all about them. You kids today really are the worst - I know that makes me sound like an old, angry man but there you go. I'm being nice tonight because I did laugh out loud a couple of times - but I'm laughing AT you, millennials, not WITH you.
Also starring Adam Devine (last heard in "The Lego Batman Movie"), Anna Kendrick (last seen in "The Hollars"), Aubrey Plaza (last seen in "Dirty Grandpa"), Stephen Root (last heard in "Finding Dory"), Stephanie Faracy, Sugar Lyn Beard (last heard in "Sausage Party"), Sam Richardson (also carrying over from "Neighbors 2"), Alice Wetterlund (last seen in "The Interview"), Lavell Crawford (last seen in "The Ridiculous 6"), Mary Holland, Kumail Nanjiani (last seen in "Hot Tub Time Machine 2"), with cameos from Jake Johnson (last seen in "Safety Not Guaranteed"), Marc Maron, Erik Griffin, Wendy Williams, Branscombe Richmond (last heard in "Moana").
RATING: 4 out of 10 sake bombs
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