‘Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice’ review: Vince Vaughn and James Marsden head riotous time travel comedy

Dir: BenDavid Grabinski. US. 2026. 107mins

BenDavid Grabinski’s time-twisty, sci-fi gangster comedy Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is brimming with hair-brained schemes and hilarious gags; the kind of unruly one night adventure that isn’t about logic, it’s about stoking delirium. Mike (James Marsden) is wooing Alice (Eiza González), whose enforcer husband Nick (Vince Vaughn) is battling a nearby foe: himself. Future Nick (also played by Vaughn) has traveled back in time to stop present-day Nick from making a big mistake. While the film is not being particularly deep, the mix of snappy pop songs and well-choregraphed violence is enough to make this an immediate crowd-pleaser.

It isn’t about logic, it’s about stoking delirium

Like his debut Happily, BenDavid Grabinski’s second feature is about romantic relationships rendered fragile by bizarre outside forces. Mike & NIck & Nick & Alice debuts at SXSW, whose raucous spirit aligns with the kind of lively millennial viewers the film hopes to attract when it arrives on March 27 in the US on Hulu and the UK on Disney+. With talents like Vaughn, Marsden and González leading the cast, the film will also bank on its collision of stars and high-concept details to attract a streaming audience.

The film initially opens as a full-throated musical: Symon (Ben Schwartz), a scientist, is prancing around his laboratory singing Billy Joel’s ‘Why Should I Worry?’ when a mysterious intruder attacks him and destroys his machines. Later that night, Nick is at a party thrown by the ruthless gangster Sosa (Keith David) in celebration of his son Jimmy Boy’s (Jimmy Tatro) release from prison. Sosa tells the attendees a rat amongst them caused Jimmy Boy’s incarceration, and they will be dealt with that night. Mike, meanwhile, has slipped away from the festivities to meet Alice at a hotel room, when Nick mysteriously appears with a job for Mike.

During a resulting tussle, Mike discovers there are two Nicks. Future Nick entrusts Mike and Alice with some surprising details – this is the second time Nick is living this night. In prior timelines, Mike was murdered by a cannibal assassin known as ‘The Baron’ because Sosa believes that Mike is the rat. Flashback sequences shot in black and white fill us in on further details, like how Mike and Alice fell for one another and what specifically happened in Symon’s lab, but the majority of the film is guided by a contrite Future Nick trying to concoct a plan that will save Mike.  

Buoying Future Nick’s cunning plans are the film’s memorable supporting players. As the dimwitted Jimmy Boy, who doesn’t know what ‘comeuppance’ means, Tatro is clearly lampooning Mark Wahlberg’s Marky Mark and Dirk Diggler days. David is an excellent foil to Tatro during these scenes, the pair forming a humerous double act. Side characters like gangsters Dumbass Tony (Arturo Castro) and Roid Rage Ryan (Lewis Tan) provide further levity with nonsensical conversations about male virility. There are even a couple of special cameos – particularly surrounding the Baron’s identity – and Nick’s adorable orange cat often takes center stage. 

The grounded action is also a highlight, with editor Tim Squyres often employing bullet time for the film’s many well-crafted shootouts. A gas station brawl, for instance, moves with sharp intensity by relying on wide, full shots and fluid choreography. There’s also a riotous moment involving Mike being tied to a chair, that’s a total rip off of the ’save Morpheus’ scene in The Matrix. Those naked homages play as open-hearted tributes, accomplished with equal reverence. 

Likewise, both Marsden and González possess palpable chemistry via their adorably forthright interactions. But as you’d guess, it’s Vaughn who fully shoulders the load, making each version of Nick emotionally unique. Present Nick is hardened and cold; Future Nick is vulnerable and remorseful. Both versions are translated via the actor’s impeccable face acting, which oscillates from stoic and sunken.  

These strong components make it easy to look past the film’s scant science. How does the machine work and what are the rules for time travel here? Who cares when you have an entire whip pan predicated on a debate about Rory’s ideal partner on Gilmore Girls, or a superb soundtrack featuring an aching needle drop of ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’? Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice certainly doesn’t. Which is why it’s such a successfully brash and giddy action-comedy whose many endearing parts make for a remarkable whole.