_Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice_ is the sort of film you stumble upon while browsing a streaming service—the kind with an odd title and a cast list that makes you pause. Seeing Vince Vaughn, James Marsden, Eiza Gonzalez…and Vince Vaughn again...in a streaming comedy? Sign me up. And for parts of it, I was enjoying myself. The issue is that the movie struggles to define itself. It seems to be aiming for buddy comedy, silly conversations, romantic comedy elements, time travel science fiction, a crime story, and an action film—all squeezed into the same length. That’s not really mixing genres; it's more like piling them on top of each other. I honestly couldn’t even tell what era it was supposed to be taking place in. There were 70s clothes and decorations, but also smartphones. And then there’s that shaky slow-motion effect they apparently call step-printing, a technique borrowed from 90s kung fu movies, which is used far too often and never really feels needed. The overall feeling was all over the place. The back-and-forth between characters is mostly amusing, I'll admit. But there’s just so much of it. Eventually, the dialogue stops being entertaining and starts to feel like it’s dragging on. Vince Vaughn delivers his usual performance—that familiar Vince Vaughn energy, perfectly watchable. However, James Marsden was a genuine surprise. He appears in great shape and actually manages to pull off the action hero role, convincingly so. And I'm willing to accept a lot of things from a movie. But asking me to believe someone would be bored with and unfaithful to Eiza Gonzalez? That’s where I had trouble suspending my disbelief. It's an attempt at something new and unusual, and I appreciate the effort. It just doesn't quite succeed. Still, I generally enjoyed it, and sometimes that’s sufficient.

Source on TMDB