Disney+, now

Sosa (Keith David) is a mob boss celebrating the release of his son Jimmy Boy (Jimmy Tatro) from prison. He’s throwing three parties and at the end of them, he’s going to give his son the man who gave him up to the cops: Quick Draw Mike (James Marsden).

Except… Mike’s innocent. Because he’s in love with Alice (Eiza Gonazalez), the estranged wife of his boss, Nick (Vince Vaughan), and Nick is going to frame him.

In fact, he already did! But Nick can fix it. That’s where the time machine comes in…

This is one of those movies it pays you to go into knowing as little as possible but the premise is pretty apparent from the name, poster and trailer. It’s also, along with stable mate Pizza Movie, an absolute delight.

Writer and director BenDavid Grabinski mixes the peanut butter and chocolate of his genres and discovers they really do taste great together. Vaughan, not a human I’m remotely fond of but a performer I often enjoy, gives a surprisingly nuanced pair of performances here. In one, Nick is a bitter, uptight, offhandedly violent man. In the other, six months up stream and with hindsight, he’s… honestly still bitter, uptight and offhandedly violent but a little looser and more open about his feelings. Vaughan seems to be having a good time here, and he’s got easy chemistry with himself and the other cast members that sells Nick’s gentle, but specific, emotional arc well.

Gonzalez, a genre regular and a big part of why the Netflix Three Body Problem is so good, is great here. Alice is smart, together, calm, where nether of the men in her life are and drives the story in some fun ways. Likewise, David and Tatro, men at different stages of their careers but equally incapable of bad work, are frequently hilarious. There’s a flight of great cameos too, most of which I won’t spoilt. But Lewis Tan is wonderful as a cheerfully frightening doorman and Stephen Root has a great, surprising turn too. Watch out too for Schitt’s Creek’s own Emily Hampshire in a very fun cameo and Arturo Castro as the sweetest member of Sosa’s crew. Castro and Tatro are two power houses of contemporary comic acting and they’re just part of a great cast here.

The core here is Grabinski’s clever, kind script and Marsden. The script shifts gears so smoothly you don’t notice it’s doing it, and balances big science fiction ideas with bigger characters and a couple of very inventive action scenes. Marsden, on a tear right now thanks to this, Paradise and (Please GOD) an actual substantive role in Avengers: Doomsday, lifts every scene he’s in even higher. He’s funny, bewildered, sweet and has great chemistry with Gonzalez. He’s also completely credible in the gnarly, John Wick-ian fights that abound. You just like watching the dude, and his emotional honesty and intelligence lands the surprising final scene especially well.

Verdict: Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice is fun, wildly eccentric and packs a punch. If you like either genre it dances with, you’ll love this. It’s on Disney + now. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart