Clay Tarver directed and co-wrote ‘Vacation Friends,’ a buddy-comedy film developed by 20th Century Studios and had its release on Hulu.

Marcus (Lil Rel Howery) and Emily (Yvonne Orji) are a chill couple headed to Mexico for a vaction. Marcus plans to pop the question, but his plans get ruined when the couple of them cause a hot tub leak to flood their room. Marcus proposes to Emily and the couple, revealed to be Oregon residents Ron (John Cena) and Kyla (Meredith Hagner), offer to let them stay in the honeymoon suite with them. This leads to a Ron and Kyla introducing them to their wild lifestyle of partying with drugs, booze, and a swinger night. Marcus and Emily leave Mexico expecting to never see them again, but when Ron and Kyla show up to their wedding rehearsal it leads to more unexpected craziness.

This movie is total insanity and I kind of got into it. I will say, I feel that it got less funny as it went along. After the first two acts, it felt like the movie was just going through the motions of typical buddy comedies. At one point, you could even feel the shift of the tone of the movie when it shifted. Prior to that, however, I was laughing out loud and was having a good time.

Sure, it is one of those movies that you have to turn off your brain to enjoy, but that is part of its charm. Who has not met a crazy couple while vacationing that you begged they would not zero in on you? This comedy takes that concept to the next level of them attaching you to it. That is what made it so funny.

All of the actors do a good job too. Cena, Howery, Orji, and Hagner had excellent chemistry with each other as the story progressed into madness. I also appreciated that the movie did not preach to you. Sure, the drug comedy and the sexual content were relied on a bit too much, but the movie never tried to talk down to its audience. It was just some insanity that got crazy.

Bottom line, Vacation Friends is an imperfect comedy, but it had a lot of funny moments that do not preach but instead tries to make you laugh. That in itself is unique these days.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Drug content, Comic violence, Sexual innuendo, Strong foul language

FAVORITE QUOTE: I watched so many guys wear themselves out, swimming against the rip-tide, swimming as hard as they could. They had to be extracted. Me? I found out the trick was… just float.

Check out the trailer below:

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, or novel you would like me to review. While you are at it, check out my movie reviews of Good on Paper and Cruella. Don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe for more posts like this one.

Look for me on social media! Facebook: Author Jacob Airey | Instagram: realjacobairey | Twitter: @realJacobAirey | MeWe: Link | YouTube: StudioJake | Minds: Link | Rumble: StudioJake Media | Gettr: Click Here