Movie: Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice (2026)
Directed by: BenDavid Grabinski
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Vince Vaughn, James Marsden, Eiza González
Review by: Kirk Dulin
Review Type: SPOILER FREE

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WHY ARE THERE TWO VINCE VAUGHNS?

What happens when a mobster has a guilty conscience about a decision from his past? He travels back in time to fix it, of course!

Here are the players:

Mike: James Marsden, clean cut mob guy
Nick: Vince Vaughn, old school mob guy, present day
Nick: Vince Vaughn, old school mob guy, from the near future
Alice: Eiza González, Nick’s wife, who gets caught up in the chaos of the night

As the trailer reveals, Nick has returned from the future to save Mike’s life. The problem? Future Nick knows that he, himself from the present day will mess it up, so he recruits Mike to subdue himself from the past. (Why is time travel so complicated?) All in all, it’s a wonderfully absurd premise that many people will hit “play” on alone to watch the chaos unfold, in addition to Vince Vaughn’s comedic charm.

You probably have some more questions like:

1. How does a mobster have access to a Time Machine? (You have to watch and see!)
2. Why did Mike die the first time? (Can’t tell you!)
3. Who would write and direct such a thing? (I’m glad you asked…)

Director BenDavid Grabinski is a (presumably) simply guy form the midwest, much like your cohosts of your favorite spoiler free movie review podcast and blog. Hailing from Lincoln Nebraska, Grabinski is also the creative mind and creator of the Are You Afraid of the Dark? reboot.

But…can a YA horror series writer’s skills translate to absurd time traveling comedy? Kinda.

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DOUBLE THE VAUGHN, DOUBLE THE FUN

Grabinski must have been like a kid in a candy store getting the opportunity to write for Vince Vaughn TWICE in the same movie. Vaughn is the epitome of comedic charm. He walks through the world of the movie with authentic one liners and calling out others and himself for their bad or weird behavior. The camera work on doubling Vaughn would make you actually believe he has a twin working with him on set (lookout Sinners). No notes on Vaughn’s performance; he is so much fun to watch! He also locked in on the characters’ circumstances. You truly believe he is both of these guys trying to actively figure out the best solution for each of them. There’s even a very difficult dramatic moment for Vaughn to land in a short amount of time, and he nails it.

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THE ONGOING MISCASTING OF JAMES MARSDEN

Look, it’s probably not his fault. How do you cast one of the world’s most conventionally attractive men? To me, Marsden shines when he is genuinely or ironically obsessed with himself (The Notebook, Enchanted, Dead to Me – season 1 only). He’s also exceptionally outstanding in the new HULU series Paradise. And, not sure if this is a hot take, but I’ve always loved him as Cyclops.

But here, he plays Mike, who is supposed to be a mobster who roughs people up. I’m sorry, but if James Marsden walks through my door, I’m only going to assume he’s there to steal my girl, not beat the crap out of me. His action beats are exceptional because he’s had a lifetime of action movie training. Ultimately, a different actor, properly cast, would have elevated this story where it needed to land.

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Eiza González Gets No Love

González has headlined movies for the past decade, delivering solid performances in movies that are good, but not great. In this film, she equally shows up for her character and her cast, but it’s just not written well enough to give her anything to really bite and create something memorable. Not her fault though.

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OUT OF TIME

If you’re looking for a light comedy to pass the time or destress after a long day, this is the movie for you. It’s an easy story to follow, with ridiculous subplots and characters intriguing enough to leave a smile on your face by the time the credits roll.

I’m perplexed by two elements of the film: editing style and joke style.

At several points of the film, including early on, there is a slow motion effect added to key sequences of the story. It’s not weird to have slo mo in any movie really. But this effect is very blurry, very clumsy, and adds nothing to any comedic or dramatic moment that it is assigned to. The fact that no one called this out before release is truly baffling. It makes the movie seem unfinished. And perhaps my early screening link was. If this is resolved for the official release, it would increase my final score SUBSTANTIALLY. That’s how ugly and disruptive it was to my viewing experience.

Aside from the visuals, there is a painfully noticeable “unc” vibe with the comedic beats. As a certified “unc”, myself, I disapprove of the early 2000s/2010s humor. Ironically, the out of time jokes make this time traveling movie out of balance. The story itself does NOT take place in that era, so hearing González land a line like, “what a dil*o”, made me tilt my head like a dog hearing a nearby dog whistle. This is the prime example, and there are many others such as a random divulgence into the characters’ shared love for Gilmore Girls lore.

STREAMING MOVIE VS CINEMA

I usually rate movies that “could’ve been good” more harshly because all of the pieces were there, and they fumbled the ball. Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice falls somewhere in between. Consistent, repetitive issues drag the momentum and the joy of this comedy down…but the other elements are truly endearing or laugh-out-loud-in-a-room-by-yourself moments.

As a straight to streaming release, this will likely hover in trending and top ten movies for a month. After that, though, it’ll be lost to the sea of thumbnails. For a brief while, though, fans will exchange their favorite Vince Vaughn quotes around the virtual water cooler and pour out immense love for the surprising unsung hero of this movie – Ben Schwartz singing Billy Joel’s “Why Should I Worry?” in the film’s opening.

Score: 6.0/10 kernels
Review By: Kirk Dulin

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MIKE & NICK & NICK & ALICE premieres on HULU this Friday, March 27, 2026.

Film Production Credits: