I have a dear friend and fellow film critic, Nick Rogers from Midwest Film Journal, who does one of the better year-end wrap-ups around. It includes a rather extensive and remarkably spot-on tip o' the hat to the year's best needle drops. It's hard to imagine that Nick won't at least think about the surprisingly satisfying straight-to-Hulu action comedy Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, a film that kicks off with a rather dazzling scene of Ben Schwartz's Symon taking his time with Billy Joel's "Why Should I Worry?," a tune only diehard Joel fans are likely to recognize from Oliver & Company. 

The film gets a lot more fun from there. 

Written and directed by BenDavid Grabinski, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice takes a retro-vibed approach that will feel a bit familiar to those who've immersed themselves in 80's action comedies. It opens at the home of Jimmy Boy (Jimmy Tatro), a low-level gangster and the son of Sosa (Keith David), a high-level gangster who isn't happy that some rat helped put away his son for eight years in the pen. We know what happens when a kingpin isn't happy with you.

You cease to exist. 

Nick (Vince Vaughn) is one of Sosa's confidantes and he's set up Quick Draw Mike (James Marsden) to take the fall, mostly out vengeance after he finds out Mike has been sleeping with his wife, Alice (Eiza Gonzalez). 

You kind of get where this is going? 

Throw in some time travel and you have the makings of one of the best action comedies to come along in quite some time. 

While Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice has a familiar framework, it's got an abundance of humor and a surprising amount of heart. Vaughn seems to be having more fun than he's had in a while, and Grabinski's script gives him a chance to flex both his action muscles and that inherent likability he's always had. This is my favorite Vaughn performance in years, and my only regret here is that it won't be playing theaters. The same is true for Marsden, long an underappreciated actor, who is well-known to have comic gifts and uses them to full advantage here. There are excellent supporting turns by the always dependable Keith David, a refreshingly loose Eiza Gonzalez, and a terrific Jimmy Tatro among others. It's pretty clear that Grabinski was able to communicate his vision for the film and this terrific ensemble brings it all to life. 

This has to be one of the better originals I've seen going to Hulu, an expansive effort that deserves as much audience as it can snag. With a couple other memorable needle drops, this is a film that entertains you and leaves you humming along. I've seen it once. I'll be seeing it again. And again. 

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic