The Dog Days of Summer: 3

Films to Relief the Doldrums

By Sandra Olmsted

In the case of Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (Fox release), Mike (Adam Devine) and Dave (Zac Efron) are the high-fiving, chaos-causing dawgs of the Stangle family. At every family gathering, especially weddings, the brothers wreck the celebration, destroy things, and cause injuries. Now, they must bring nice girls as dates to their only sister’s Hawaiian wedding or stay home.

Through a social media ad that goes viral, their plight catches the attention of Alice (Anna Kendrick) and Tatiana (Aubrey Plaza), who pretend to be nice girls to get a vacay to Hawaii. Unfortunately, the real Alice and Tatiana are a perfect match for self-centered Mike and Dave, and the four of them are a recipe for calamity. Loosely based on the true story of real-life brothers, this wedding comedy relies too much on gross-outs and over-the-top juvenile pranks by the boys and on a misguided idea of fun by the girls. While it does get tiresome, there are some moments of real levity. Raunchy and vulgar, Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates is rated R for crude sexual content, language throughout, drug use and some graphic nudity and runs 98 minutes.

The Secret Life of Pets (Universal) follows the misadventures of Max (voice of Louis C.K.) and his new “brother,” Duke (voice of Eric Stonestreet), looks like a large, dirty, shag rug. Suddenly, Max’s happy life and perfect one-on-one relationship with Katie (voice of John Burroughs School alum Ellie Kemper) have been destroyed. Soon Max and Duke vie for ways to get rid of the other, which leads to a brush with animal control. Worse yet, they are “saved” by a maniacal bunny named Snowball (Kevin Hart) and his gang of the Flushed Pets.

Only Gidget (Jenny Slate), a power-puff pomeranian, might be able and willing to save Max and maybe Duke. A stellar voice cast for the many anthropomorphized pets make this animated film enjoyable. The jokes wear a little thin for adults, but the kids will love it. It does have some scenes that might be scary or too sad for some children. Rated PG for action and some rude humor and running a fast-paced 87 minutes, The Secret Life of Pets is proceeded by the delightful, four-minute “Mower Minions” short.

Wiener-Dog (IFC), the flip side of The Secret Life of Pets, follows one dog through a series of homes where he deals with some odd humans, such as the colossally bad parents (Tracy Letts and Julie Delpy) of a 9-year-old cancer survivor (Keaton Nigel Cooke), a college screenwriting professor (Danny DeVito) who teaches his entitled students the importance of “what if,” and the dying grandmother (Ellen Burstyn) whose granddaughter (Zosia Mamet) suddenly visits.

The dog also meets some wonderful, if flawed, humans, such as the animal tech (Greta Gerwig) who saves him from being destroyed, a drifter (Kieran Culkin) on a strange quest, and the couple (Connor Long and Bridget Brown) who get the dog from the animal tech. The humor is quirky, esoteric, and occasionally not well timed because of lingering too long on some images; however, the film provides food for thought on the meaning of life and death.

Although the story starts out showing how the dog gets from one person to the next, writer/director Todd Solondz abandons that structure, which was disappointing. Wiener-Dog runs 90 minutes and is rated R for language and some disturbing content, and much of the humor is exceedingly dark, disturbing, and/or gross.   All of these films are in theaters now!

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