Vacation Friends Review Cena Stands Out In A Comedy That Doesnt Go Anywhere

Vacation Friends Review: Cena Stands Out In A Comedy That Doesn’t Go Anywhere

Vacation Friends finds its humor in the disconcerting scenarios the characters find themselves in, but it never evolves past its empty premise.

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Vacation Friends Review Cena Stands Out In A Comedy That Doesnt Go Anywhere

Comedy releases over the last several years have been few and far between. It’s gotten to the point that the one or two comedies that have come out haven’t been very funny and Vacation Friends unfortunately joins that lineup. The film — directed by Clay Tarver from a screenplay by him, Tom Mullen, Tim Mullen, Jonathan Goldstein, and John Francis Daley — is a buddy comedy that feels like it’s in the wrong era. (The film was originally set to star Chris Pratt and Anna Faris.) Vacation Friends finds its humor in the disconcerting scenarios the characters find themselves in, but it never evolves past its empty premise.

What happens in Mexico doesn’t stay in Mexico in Vacation Friends, which follows Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Emily (Yvonne Orji), a longtime couple who are visiting the country for vacation. Their trip immediately gets off to a bad start when their hotel room gets wrecked by a water leak from the room above because its residents left the water on in the jacuzzi for too long. These residents turn out to be Ron (John Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner), a ridiculously energetic couple who enjoy living on the wild side, offering cocaine and unbridled adventure to the more cautious Emily and Marcus, who especially likes to plan everything. To make up for what happened to their hotel room, Ron and Kyla invite Emily and Marcus to stay in their presidential suite and the couple has a memorable vacation together. However, things take a weird and uncomfortable turn when Ron and Kyla fly out to Emily and Marcus’ wedding uninvited, threatening to make worse Marcus’ already strained relationship with Emily’s father Harold (Robert Wisdom), who is less than thrilled his daughter is marrying someone he believes to be lesser than her.

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Vacation Friends Review Cena Stands Out In A Comedy That Doesnt Go Anywhere

Much of the humor is fueled by the discomfort of the characters — be it in the uptight Marcus being caught off guard by the unabashed Ron giving him a kiss on the forehead or in Robert constantly telling others Marcus is a construction worker despite him owning a contracting business. The tension that is consistently simmering throughout the film between both couples makes for some good buildup, but the story is largely predicated on the assumption that one character, who was nearly unconscious at the time, slept with another. It’s meant to be played for laughs and to heighten the awkward, deeply uncomfortable tension, as well as to stir up some drama, but a potential sexual assault being at the center of a comedy isn’t very funny, even if it’s revealed otherwise.

Vacation Friends lays everything on the table at the start of the film before pivoting to a new story, one ripe with its own comedic situations, following the couple’s departure from Mexico that basically turns Ron and Kyla into wedding crashers. The film had an opportunity to build upon the couples’ friendships with each other, but it fails to move them forward in any meaningful way. The screenwriters seem more interested in putting Marcus, in particular, in the most awkward situations possible, but it doesn’t really deliver on any of the somewhat intriguing friendship building that is shown at the start. It’s as though the montage of the couple enjoying their vacation and getting themselves into strange and wild situations is meant to make up for the lack of development later on in the film. A great comedy should also have a lot of heart and that’s what was ultimately missing in the film.

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Cena gives a fun performance as Ron and he’s got a lot of energy that manages to hold throughout the course of the film, but even his exuberant portrayal isn’t enough to keep the film from becoming flat, and it starts to grate on the nerves the longer the film goes on. Howery is good as the somewhat serious Marcus, playing the role with a lot of nervous energy that is the perfect contrast to Cena’s Ron. But while there are plenty of scenes meant for bonding between their characters, Orji and Hagner don’t get as much to do in their roles as Emily and Kyla, respectively. The actresses get a couple of scenes together on their own, but the primary focus is on Ron and Marcus’ relationship. A twist at the end involving both women is swept under the rug, with the characters unfortunately acting more in support of their significant others.

All of the jokes wear out their welcome pretty quickly in Vacation Friends and it’s hard to stay engaged when the humor remains stagnant and the characters’ relationships with each other don’t really move forward until the last possible second. For all of it’s raunchiness, the comedy still manages to feel incredibly reserved and never goes anywhere beyond the confines that it’s set for itself. To be sure, there are certainly funny moments throughout the film, but it remains the same and is far too fragmented to be deeply enjoyable.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/vacation-friends-2021-movie-reviews/

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