The Plot

Two hard-partying brothers place an online ad to find the perfect dates for their sister’s Hawaiian wedding. Hoping for a wild getaway, the boys instead find themselves out-hustled by an uncontrollable duo.

The Good

Zac Efron and Adam Devine star in this hapless comedy as the titular Stangle brothers, Mike (Devine) and Dave (Efron) as they try to make it through one family gathering without riling each other up and causing chaos. The setup is quick and simple, as they go in search of two nice girls to take as dates. Instead they are tricked by basically their female equivalents in Alice (Anna Kendrick) and Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza) who take up the opportunity for an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii with Tatiana posing as a school teacher (‘it’s all about repetition. You’d be surprised how dumb the kids are’ she says) and Alice trying to pass as a hedge fund manager who ‘hedge’s funds’ as she so succinctly explains it.

What follows is a by the books gross out comedy with a fair few laughs along the way thanks to some fun set pieces including a very relaxing massage session for bride-to-be Jeanie (Sugar Lyn Beard) and a painful ATV tour of Jurassic Park’s set which turns her into ‘a burn victim barbie’ as Mike puts it.

The Bad

Unfortunately the gags soon start to slow towards the third act as it leans towards the all too familiar sequence that often comes with comedies like this and, if thought about too much wouldn’t make a lot of sense here. If you’re not a fan of gross-out comedy you might not find much to laugh at here either. Though it’s not the worst attempt at the type of comedy (think Farrelly Brothers-lite), it does still have some unsavoury jokes scattered throughout which won’t appeal to everyone’s sense of humour.

The Ugly Truth

The four main cast members work well together and there are still enough laughs to warrant a trip to the cinema, however the rom-com tropes are the same as always and the humour may not be to everyone’s taste, but with Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick, it’s still worth a watch.

Review by Johnny Ellis