Though the film's marketing feels a little one-note, there's something interesting about the nightmare couple Ron and Kyla represent. It's not uncommon to have ancillary supporting figures in your life whose ridiculousness precludes them from featuring as regular, normal fixtures. Strictly wacky guest star material. So when "Vacation Friends" introduces us to these over-the-top caricatures who feel less like real human beings and more like cartoonish assemblages of odd bits comedy writers insist on shoehorning into scripts, it's relatable to view them at arm's length. It feels right to react to them with the kind of revulsion one reserves for a bug buzzing near your flesh.
But with the specific way Marcus and Emily are drawn as put-upon straight men whose real friends and family cause them nothing but stress and pressure, the freewheeling way Cena and Hagner portray their new foils makes them feel like a breath of fresh air.
The premise of "Vacation Friends" is deceptively simple, but muddled by its actual execution. The film should follow a simple three-act structure of presenting an over-the-top couple crackling with big Kramer energy barging in on a perfectly normal vacation for some regular folks. First, introducing and establishing their antics, then bringing them back to the stage in a vastly different setting with higher stakes, followed by some kind of resolution where they find a middle ground in their chaotic presence to slot into Marcus and Emily's lives in a more acceptable manner.
But in the build-up to the wedding, when we the audience know Ron and Kyla are right around the corner, we're introduced to all the other people awaiting their nuptials and all of them are absolutely awful. From Emily's overbearing father to her bougie mother (Lynn Whitfield) and her irritating brother (former Vine star Andrew "King Bach" Bachelor), their lives are densely populated by deeply unpleasant individuals whose stuffy manner and persistent antagonism make Ron and Kyla's drug-fueled hedonism seem, well, like a vacation.
This makes their initial return feel like an entertaining relief when it's being played up as suspense. Ron and Kyla and the strange subplot suggesting Kyla's newfound pregnancy may be tethered to Marcus and Emily in a more direct way are intended to be the source of some awkward cringe humor and the effects that come with shattering social mores at inopportune times. The problem is that they're not only a fun presence in Marcus and Emily's lives, but they actually make the movie more entertaining to watch.
It's hard to root against the only people making this otherwise dime-a-dozen flick feel even a little bit enjoyable as a viewing experience.
So the script, penned by literally five different people, tries to course-correct by ratcheting their behavior up several unnecessary notches, making them come off like selfish sociopaths instead of the lovable weirdos they were presented as in the first act. It comes a little too late, making the third act reversal and search for a happy medium feel strange and un-engaging, the last way you want to describe a comedy this slight and breezy.
