Action, Comedy,Time Travel & Ballet, Oh My | At The Movies With Kasey
The action-comedy format has become a reliable one for streamers, often bringing in big names and low-quality scripts. Two new movies from Hulu and Amazon take the action comedy format and mix in something extra–time travel or ballet–to varying degrees of success.
In Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, Quick Draw Mike (James Marsden) is ready to leave his life in organized crime, putting violence behind him to start a new life with his love, Alice (Eliza González). First, his boss, Nick (Vince Vaughn), wants him to help him with one more job–a hit that turns out to be on himself, orchestrated by him from the future. Meanwhile, Sosa (Keith David) believes that Mike is a rat, responsible for putting his son, Jimmy Boy (Jimmy Tatro), behind bars, and he is out for revenge. Oh, and Alice is Nick’s wife. So we have action, comedy, time travel, and a love triangle. Then a cannibal assassin enters. What could go wrong?
I am not sure that having two Vince Vaughns really benefits any movie, but the screenplay does not dwell overly on that dynamic, continuing to move the action forward. The plot, however, has one too many facets. Sosa’s desire for revenge sets the story in motion, but then the film spends far too much time with him, his son, and the string of parties they host. Sure, Jimmy Tatro’s dimwitted persona made me laugh, but each time his character was on screen, it felt like a distraction from the real story. I just did not need a whole monologue about Sosa finding baby Jimmy under a dumpster.
The rest of the plot is convoluted enough already, but the action feels well-balanced with character development, even if the trajectories are cliches. Despite the overloaded screenplay and the blatant setup for an unnecessary sequel, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice was a lot more fun to watch than I anticipated. A catchy soundtrack layers in personality for the characters, and plenty of running Gilmore Girls jokes soften the tough-guy personas in an unexpected manner.
What makes this movie really work, however, is the chemistry among the cast. Vaughn does not give an inspired performance, and even reliable James Marsden has some dull moments, but as a couple of gangsters, they work, and between them and Eliza González, there is so much charisma that they can make the audience care just enough about the characters for this strange movie to sort of work.
Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice was written and directed by BenDavid Grabinski. It runs 107 minutes and is rated R. It is streaming on Hulu.
I am a lifelong fan of ballet, so when the backlash against Timothée Chalamet’s dig at the art form hit social media, I could think of plenty of ballets and ballet movies I have enjoyed. Sadly, I will not be adding Amazon’s Pretty Lethal to that list.
In Pretty Lethal, a small band of dancers, Bones (Maddie Ziegler), Princess (Lana Candor), Grace (Avantika), and sisters Chloe (Millicent Simmonds) and Zoe (Iris Apatow) are traveling with their coach, Miss Thorna (Lydia Leonard), to a prestigious showcase in Budapest when they end up stranded at a remote hotel run by Devora Kasimer (Uma Thurman), a former prima ballerina who now twirls atop an underground criminal enterprise. Soon, the girls are less worried about getting to their showcase than they are about getting home alive.
Pretty Lethal blends action and comedy and pads the narrative with plenty of cliches about how ballet dancers turn pain into beauty. The screenplay hints at issues about privilege and access within ballet schools, but only superficially celebrates the art of ballet. Throughout the film, the moments of dance appear merely as actors playing ballerinas rather than demonstrating any dance technique or skill.
Good casting makes this film much more watchable than it would have been with a weaker ensemble. Uma Thurman’s screen presence almost made me overlook how poor the writing of her character is. As the icy soloist Bones, Maddie Ziegler anchors the group dynamic, especially in her frenemy dynamic with Lana Candor, whose depiction of a spoiled Princess provides plenty of laugh lines. You might recognize Millicent Simmonds from A Quiet Place and Iris Apatow from her parents’ movies. And Avantika plays a remarkably similar character to her role as Karen in Mean Girls. The relationships between the girls are moving and funny in small doses, but do not convey any real character growth, and therefore, little range from the actresses.
Pretty Lethal might draw audiences in with how fun it can be to see ballet mixed into a genre film, but the film is shallow and messy. Many films have used ballet much more creatively and effectively. So, here is what you should watch instead: Suspiria (1977), Abigail (2024), The Red Shoes (1948), Black Swan (2010), or White Nights (1985).
Pretty Lethal was written by Kate Freund and directed by Vicky Jewson. It runs 88 minutes and is rated R.
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