Sometimes, you just have to roll with the punches. Sometimes you have to just deal with life as it comes. And sometimes you have to review “Vacation Friends,” the new comedy from first time director Clay Tarver (“Silicon Valley,” “Joy Ride”) which sees Marcus, played by Lil Rel Howery (“Get Out,” “Free Guy”) and Emily, played by Yvonne Orji (“Insecure,” “Spontaneous”), have their nuptials interrupted by a couple they befriended while on vacation in Mexico, played by John Cena (“Blockers,” “The Suicide Squad”) and Meredith Hagner (“Men At Work,” “Search Party”).
It's not a stretch to say that “Vacation Friends” is the perfect kind of film to stream. As much as the theatre experience can add to one’s enjoyment of a film, this 20th Century Studios produced film going straight to Hulu isn’t that big of a deal. It's light, comedic comfort food that doesn’t reach too high or try to punch above its weight.
The structure of the film is that of a typical studio comedy. Normalcy is established and then hilarity ensues when an outsider tries to shake things up. The way “Vacation Friends” sets itself up is an interesting idea that’s done well, but lacks creativity. Instead of spending the entire film alluding to the acts of debauchery that Marcus and Emily got up to in Mexico, the film starts on their actual vacation, showing how they ran into Ron, played by Cena, and Kyla, played by Hagner. It allows them to establish some chemistry to the point where you do see these two couples become odd-couple style friends.
It means that there’s a slight bit more emotional weight to the rest of the film. While not really that engaging, it makes the rejection Marcus and Emily put upon Ron and Kyla when they show up at their wedding sting a bit more.
From that point on, the film follows a pretty formulaic sequence of gags-as-scenes that find Ron and Kyla making things awkward for Marcus and Emily in a variety of fish-out-of-water scenarios that pit their trashiness against Emily’s family and their wealth. Some of the gags hit harder than others, a mushroom drug trip sequence feels like it should’ve been cut, but the added layer of heart makes them feel a bit more cohesive.
You can really see that Kyla and Ron want to be friends with Marcus and Emily and not just make life hell. There really isn’t any malice directed at any moment during their escapades, and the film even resists the obvious temptation to go for broke with the R-rated gags. Sure there’s cursing, sex jokes, and drug jokes, but nothing ever goes off the handle like in a “Hangover” movie. It all stays within the realm of believability.
Cena and Howery have fine chemistry, with Cena continuing to show how good of a comedic actor he can be and Howery showing that, despite previous castings, he can actually play the straight man pretty well. Hagner is also good as Kyla, and there aren’t really any scene-stealers here. Everyone does their job adequately, but Orji is probably the best, with pretty much all of the material she’s given, regardless of quality, executed pretty flawlessly.
When your film has five credited writers and already suffers from a gag-as-scene type of structure, it can lead to things feeling like a bit of a drag. It definitely isn’t the most high energy comedy out there, but writers Tom Mullen, Tim Mullen, Jonathan Goldstein (“Game Night,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming”), John Francis Daley (“Game Night,” “Spider-Man: Homecoming”), and Tarver do their best to spice up the routine formula with mixed results.
“Vacation Friends” is a perfectly adequate, not particularly memorable film. The performances are fine, the jokes hit more than they miss, and there’s just enough heart to make it feel like you just spent 100 minutes well. It definitely isn’t as well executed as it could’ve been, but there’s just enough chuckles and smiles to be had here to make it worth a watch. 3/5
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