Directed By Clay Tarver

Starring – Lil Rel Howery, Yvonne Orji, John Cena

The Plot – In this raw and raunchy comedy, straight-laced Marcus and Emily (Howery and Orji) are befriended by wild, thrill-seeking partiers Ron and Kyla (Cena, Meredith Hagner) at a resort in Mexico. Living in the moment, the usually level-headed couple lets loose to enjoy a week of uninhibited fun and debauchery with their new “vacation friends.” Months after their walk on the wild side, Marcus and Emily are horrified when Ron and Kyla show up uninvited at their wedding, creating chaos and proving that what happens on vacation, doesn’t necessarily stay on vacation.

Rated R for drug content, crude sexual references, and adult language throughout

Vacation Friends | Red Band Trailer – YouTube

POSITIVES

– Charismatic leads. The biggest benefit to the movie, and one that makes it decent enough as a recommending factor is the work of Howery, Hagner, and especially John Cena creating an insatiable banter between their doubling duo’s of polar opposites. This is again another movie-stealing performance for John, who not only feels right at home in the lunacy of the movie’s comic consistency, but also in fleshing out his most bizarrely intoxicating personality yet, in the early part of an inevitably promising career. Playing off of Cena’s constant mayhem is Howery, whose comedic familiarity is reserved here, but still prominent as a straight man who serves as they eyes and ears of the audience within each chaotic interpretation. Because of such, the movie is at its best when Howery and Cena share the stage simultaneously, creating a one-two dynamic that prescribes no shortage of raw energy and personality to an otherwise ages old format of the straight couple who meet bizarre people, who in turn change their lives forever.

– Comic muscle. Even with the labeling of this being a raunchy comedy, there’s a subdued nature to the extremities of the material that I greatly appreciated, and one that brought forth a few hearty chuckles for my enjoyment. Part of the allure here is in a comedy in 2021 that isn’t afraid to be a comedy, and because of such we’re treated to an unapologetic emphasis against the constrictions of politically correct cinema. The other is in the superbly rich timing of everyone included on screen, but particularly Cena, whose dry deliveries and commitment to some outlandish lines of dialogue and jaw-dropping sight gags play into the kind of afterthought deliveries that are right up my alley for comedy. Some of the material does bomb periodically, but on the law of averages for “Vacation Friends”, and especially considering it’s a Hulu-exclusive property, there’s just enough effectiveness to trigger its charm, all the while engaging us with cinematic soul food, where it might not be good for you, but it makes you feel good all the same.

– Underlining sweetness. Thematic depth was not something that I was expecting for a movie that features not one, but two shitting birds, but it proves that Tarver and especially the brothers Mullen are interested in supplanting more than just a stomach-turning plunge as the production’s assorted screenwriters. Despite the magnitude of the mayhem of various drug-fueled debauchery, there’s a redeeming element of comfort and capability in the people we find ourselves most comfortable around, all the while illustrating the growth and trust that stems from such a concept. This is especially surprising in a raunchy comedy because it instills meaning and sentimentality to the experience that really allows these characters and the unfortunately limited characterization to grow on you all the same, creating a feel-good emphasis on the values and importance of friendship that audiences can take and learn from long after the film concludes.

– Overcoming adversity. “Vacation Friends” is one in the long list of films whose production grinded to a screeching halt during the Covid pandemic, but one interestingly enough not marred down by visual inconsistencies that feel obvious on screen. Because of such, character likenesses and hairstyles feel synthetically enriched with authenticity, without the element of obviousness in a wig or prosthetics. Likewise, the overall look and style of the cinematography shot by Tim Suhrstedt resonates accordingly with the kind of big screen sheen that easily immerses audience to a major motion picture, made all the more luxurious with a variety of tropical landscapes and evolving lighting schemes that resonate exceptionally to the exuberance of the tourist eye. It bridges the gap once more between big screen and streaming in a way that cuts it closer with each passing day, paying off with a tremendous production value for “Vacation Friends” that was anything but easy.

– Valued stages. Tarver is wise enough not to set the entirety of this film during Marcus and Emily’s time on the island, and instead evolve and expand the story in ways that brings with it the claustrophobic factor of being isolated with a duo of strangers we’ve just met. This not only keeps the story from repeating itself to the point its material gets old quickly, but it also affords Ron and Kyla the kind of evolution in the magnifying of their charms that virtually no one can escape. Considering so much of this story muddles itself in the repetition of outside movies that previously did it first, it’s a bit refreshing to see that it doesn’t ground its expectations in the gimmick of its plot that could easily write a movie of its own, by its own terms. The plot itself instead is only the opening twenty minutes of this movie, and one that capably sets precedent for the craziness that follows.

NEGATIVES

– Familiar formula. As previously hinted at, there’s a mirroring redundancy to the movie’s structure that can be traced back to the golden age of cinema, when Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau persisted as polar opposites under one roof, but what’s most troublesome here is Tarver clearly hasn’t learned from such derivative filmmaking. This not only affords the movie no shortage of predictable outcomes, as seen through the abundance of various misunderstandings and subgenre tropes scattered throughout, but also stamps this movie with various unoriginal instances that feel borrowed from better, more creative originals. For my money, this kept “Vacation Friends” condensed and minimally ambitious on its way to creating something that could’ve escaped reheated leftovers, but as it stands serves as a collection of B-side favorites and endless obviousness that subdue its creative growth almost entirely.

– Directing miscues. Being that Tarver comes from various TV and short film projects, it’s clear that experience plays a condemning nature to the way this film is occasionally directed. For one, the pacing of the movie is often stilted after our two couples leave the island. This leaves the film searching for the same kind of kinetic energy and urgency that it maintained throughout the opening act, but one that unfortunately grinds the movie’s second half during various times that could’ve and should’ve been edited for convenience. Secondly, while the timing is nearly perfect from the actors themselves, there’s the occasional hiccup by Tarver in the rendering of a scene that falls flat during what should be climactic moments in the screenplay. One such example pertains to Howery’s character jumping off of a cliff into the ocean to get over his fear of heights, and instead of feeling like a momentous deconstruction of the character’s deep-seeded phobia, it’s nothing more than a temporary hiccup, and one that comes across as sorts when he finally does dive, and the accomplishment lacks the emphasis of the ensuing stakes.

– Absent backstory. Part of the allure that comes from Ron and Kyla is certainly the mystique of their anonymity, which seduces us in the same way that it does Marcus and Emily, but for my money I could’ve used further illustration as time went on, especially considering we know so little about them by film’s end. Because we are experiencing everything through Marcus’ eyes, as previously alluded to, we are still very much in the dark with these two magnifying personalities that don’t feel like they would have trouble connecting to people, but are hinted at as being guilty of such all the same. In my opinion, there’s a disappointing imbalance between the two couples that focuses too much on the boring one, and not enough on the intriguing one, which never allows it to allude the underlining skepticism afforded to meeting strangers, which hints that these people might not be who we interpret them to be.

– THE biggest continuity error. Yes, I understand this is a slapstick raunchy comedy, where logic isn’t typically afforded to the benefit of the picture, but there’s a blunder so monumentally rendered that it makes this film feel like a cartoon spoof. It begins during a sequence where a character gets accidentally shot in the head, with them wearing a blood-stained bandana in the edit that follows. The injury itself should be enough cause for concern, but that isn’t the problem here. The real problem is in the cut scene to the next day, where the same aforementioned victim is now without a bandana, a bandage, or even a wound that would signify brain trauma. I’m not one to underscore the ambitious evolutions in medicinal science, but I’d like to think that even in 2021 this seems impossible, and proves that comedy comes with a complete lack of permanence.

My Grade: 6/10 or C