Vacation Friends
HuluVacations Friends is a film that asks you to suspend your disbelief – because even though it doesn’t reinvent the comedy wheel, it is absolutely insane from the get-go.
Clay Tarver’s film follows Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Emily (Yvonne Orji), a couple that gets newly engaged upon their arrival in Mexico, only to discover that their hotel room has been flooded and they have nowhere else to go. They quickly meet a maniacal couple consisting of Ron (John Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner), at the concierge’s desk and throw all reservations to the wind and join them in a week of sex, drugs, and other general debauchery.
However, the Mexican vacation wraps up immensely fast, with Marcus and Emily promising Ron and Kyla that they will call them once they return to Chicago. But they never do, after all, they’re just vacation friends. Months later, Marcus and Emily’s destination wedding in Atlanta, Georgia is literally crashed by Ron and Kyla in an Oregon State Parks pickup truck. Where, despite their insanity, Kyla and Ron win over Emily’s snooty family while also simultaneously ruining the wedding with more of the aforementioned general debauchery.
The main problem with Vacation Friends is that there is no buildup throughout the film. Ron and Kyla engage in reckless activities in Mexico, such as cliff jumping and drinking margaritas with a cocaine rim, and do similar shenanigans upon their arrival in Atlanta. There are never any surprises, as it becomes expected that these two characters will radically do something to change the plot’s trajectory with each new action. It doesn’t help that there are never any stakes to the film, as Ron and Kyla’s actions are quickly resolved and forgiven. There simply isn’t enough time for the characters to go on a journey of change, or they don’t change at all. Ron and Kyla remain their same absolutely nuts selves throughout Vacation Friends, while it is Marcus and Emily that need to learn to relax and cut loose. Marcus especially starts out as a character that is shown to be a meticulous planner and rule follower, but even he quickly breaks this on their Mexican vacation. The film’s myriad of writers fail to have any deep scene to bring about this change in Marcus and Emily, instead, they just forgive and move on, which doesn’t make an ounce of sense considering how unbelievable Ron and Kyla are.
Vacation Friends really isn’t all that bad, however, as it does deliver on its promised laughs. There are plenty of physical comedy bits and other comedic moments that usually steam from Ron and Kyla’s obliviousness to responsibility or social norms. John Cena especially brings the energy to Vacation Freinds. Unfortunately, Orji’s comedic flair is grossly underused and Hagner often gets overshadowed by Cena, but the main actors do share chemistry between them, especially Cena and Howery. Ron often mentions that Marcus reminds him so much of his best friend Charlie and it is clear that the actors share an admiration for each other that is displayed in their characters. It’s a shame that Orji and Hagner aren’t given the same treatment as there is a clear friendship between Emily and Kyla that would have been nice to mirror against their respective partners.
In the words of Vacation Friends star John Cena, “you know what you're going to get when you see the movie” – and he is absolutely right. Vacation Friends is a standard summer couple comedy sprinkled with jokes and gags that have already been done in better movies. It definitely seems like this film would have come out in the mid-2000s featuring any actor prevalent in Walmart’s five-dollar bin. It does have its moments but ultimately is skippable. At least John Cena is clearly having a great time.