MovieChat Forums > Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (2016) Discussion > What is the conflict, exactly?

What is the conflict, exactly?

posted 9 years ago by BrianZKing-1
6 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, I'm actually looking forward to this. Just curious.

"Hard-partying brothers Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) place an online ad to find the perfect dates (Anna Kendrick, Aubrey Plaza) for their sister's Hawaiian wedding. Hoping for a wild getaway, the boys instead find themselves outsmarted and out-partied by the uncontrollable duo".

That's the IMDB description And I get the basic idea, that these two party girls are going to upset things at the wedding with their unconventional ways. The issue I have is that based on the description and trailers, Mike and Dave are clearly irresponsible party animals themselves, so I'm not seeing the contrast, the objection. "Out-partied"? Is that a bad thing for these guys? Wouldn't they be psyched?

Drama needs conflict, but so does comedy, usually a "straight man". Like Seth Rogen in Neighbors. In that movie, Rogen was the straight man, straight-laced suburban Dad in contrast to Efron's party animal frat boy. And it worked. Here, I'm not getting the problem two hard partiers dating two other hard partiers.

Two possibilities:

1. Mike and Dave are trying to appear more responsible and together, but the girls drag them back into their hard-partying ways

This looks more likely, based on the trailers.

2. The party girls are just on a different level or frequency of partying, and Mike and Dave struggle to keep up.

Not as compelling.

Maybe I'm over-analyzing, with the "rules of comedy" heh,

[–] hurricane_greg86-596-716877 9 years ago

the real conflict should be the skinny blonde really white sister is marrying a black guy

[–] Mydarkstar (108) 2 years ago

ha - that would have actually been more interesting than anything in this script.

[–] diewgong 9 years ago

I think the joke is the fact that they tried to fool the girls, but actually are the girls that end up fooling the boys, at some point they feel not only bothered, but "intimidated"

[–] nutsberryfarm 9 years ago

the viewer, trying to watch it.

looks painful.

"Hipness is not a state of mind, it's a fact of life!" - Cannonball Adderley

[–] davewriter2003 9 years ago

Here's the Synopsis, courtesy of the movie's Wikipedia page:

Delinquent brothers Mike (Adam DeVine) and Dave Stangle (Zac Efron) frequently ruin family events with their dangerous antics. In order to prevent them from ruining their sister's upcoming wedding in Hawaii, their parents mandate that they attend the wedding with dates. Their appearance on The Wendy Williams Show to advertise themselves catches the attention of Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) and Alice (Anna Kendrick). After pretending to be civilized and respectable, Tatiana and Alice secure Mike and Dave as their respective dates. However, when they get to Hawaii, Mike and Dave find that their dates are much more wild and unhinged than they anticipated.

I really do hope this helps. This is one movie I want to see this year, too.

[–] arvin g borkar (2854) 8 years ago

They are basically showing a contrast. The gals are like the brothers. They are a mirror image, just like the sorority was the reflection of the fraternity in Neighbors and Neighbors 2.