After a highly successful screening at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, writer/director BenDavid Grabinski’s sophomore feature Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice arrives on Disney + this weekend. Mike etc is a pure throwback to the more premise heavy, ultra ridiculous comedy of the late 90’s/early 2000’s, films that took a single premise. And then, movies like this stretch its premise  as taut as it could without tearing. But that’s not all as you can clearly see the influence of films like Smokin’ Aces and Hot Tub Time Machine included here as well.

Opening with Ben Schwartz’s Symon B blaring Billy Joel’s “Why Should I Worry” from Disney’s Oliver & Company (a tidy bit of meta inclusion if I may say so myself), a blinding light hits behind Symon, and after a small flurry of bullets Symon dies without the film disclosing who is responsible and why. Smash cut to a lavish party thrown by the head of the Sosa crime family (Keith David) to celebrate his adopted son Jimmy Boy’s (Jimmy Tatro) release from prison after a 6 year stint.

At this party we meet Nick (Vince Vaughan) , a higher up in the organization. As his position dictates, he is expected to be around for the party and the consequent three already arranged after parties which should run the entire night. Not wanting to be dragged along to all the parties, Nick’s wife Alice (Eiza Gonzalez) tells him she plans something different with “the girls” for the evening. But really, Alice really plans on hooking up with family bag man and good friend of Nick, Quick Draw Mike (James Marsden).

Things take a strange turn when Nick shows up at the hotel room where Mike is awaiting Alice, forcing him to come along with him. Upon arriving back at Nick and Alice’s home, Nick hands Mike a bottle of chloroform and tells him to knock out whoever answers the door, no matter who they might be. But things keep getting weirder as it’s Nick who answers the door, dressed as he was at the party. We soon find out this is Present Nick and our other Nick has arrived via a time machine invested by Symon, which is what led to the opening altercation. After Present Nick manages to escape, Future Nick and Mike are visited by Sosa and his main bodyguards, and its through this altercation that discovers just why Nick has travelled back 6 months to this very specific night.

This image released by 20th Century Studios shows, from left, Eiza González, James Marsden, Vince Vaughn and Vince Vaughn in a scene from “Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice.” (20th Century Studios via AP)

Cramming this film into the time frame of just one evening, with Future Nick scheming and plotting based on information he has from 6 months of investigation, helps to keep this premise from running off the rails. For a time travel based action comedy, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice uses these restrictions to keep the film lean and mean. It solely focuses on the next ridiculous setup so much so that by the time the inevitable massive shootout/home invasion occurs it somehow feels earned, when it absolutely should not. Even at a 105 minute runtime the film feels like it’s running at breakneck speed. And while the inclusion of iPhones and the vehicles used squarely place the film in 2026, the choice to exclusively populate the soundtrack with songs that are at least 20 years old or older gives it just enough of a throwback feel.

Vaughan is doing Vaughan here, there is very little to distinguish Nick’s personality from Vaughan himself. And yet, he manages to imbue the character with enough soul that the audience roots for him in the end. In fact, the entire film manages a heart that is rarely achieved in comedies of this ilk, and I credit that to a stellar cast doing yeoman’s work and a script smart enough to explain just enough without dragging the film down in exposition. Marsden and Gonzalez match Vaughan’s energy throughout, with Marsden affecting his put upon every man act that we’ve seen many times before. In the finale, Marsden gets to show why his character is called Quick Draw with an actually impressive John Wick style turn. Gonzalez also has some stellar moments. But the supporting cast here is flawless. From David’s Sosa, a hysterically out of touch mafia boss to Tatro basically being himself.

In the end,  it’s the other scene stealers here that provide some of the biggest laughs, from a crooked cop played by Emily Hampshire, Stephen Root’s hilarious turn which I won’t spoil here, and Letterkenny‘s Dylan Playfair showing up for a riotously funny sequence too. Lewis Tan’s typical gym bro character named Roid Rage Ryan deserves a shout out for the limited time here, but the real assassin is Arturo Castro. Castro plays the appropriately named Dumbass Tony. And while at times servicing as a plot device to forward the story, he is never not the funniest character on screen. The earnestness that Castro packs into such an intelligence inept character is why it just always works, and he steals every scene with ease. I’d pay to see a version of this film told from Dumbass Tony’s perspective.

Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice was a delightful surprise. Heading into the film, I wasn’t sure that the film wouldn’t fall in on itself due to its heavy reliance on its premise, but it never comes close. The very ending is quite ridiculous and an obvious scream for a sequel, but by the time you arrive there it somehow feels earned. Earning its ending is a fundamental must for a film of this nature, but the real genius comes in making the audience care, and Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice achieves this in spades.