As its title suggests, the action comedy film, Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice, could be mind-bending for viewers (especially those who don’t get the cutsey nod to swingers classic, Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice). After all, Mike & Nick involves time travel, a murder mystery, and a romantic triangle with four corners. And all of this is due to a gangster named Nick (Vince Vaughn) traveling six months into the past to fix a mistake he made with the love of his life, Alice (Eiza González), best pal Mike (James Marsden), and a slightly younger version of himself. Also because Mike and both Nicks are killers, lots of shooting and plenty of more killing is involved.Despite all the mayhem and one-liners, plus double Vince Vaughn action, writer, director, and comedy veteran BenDavid Grabinski has made sure his narrative was a straight, buzzy line, even with the twists.“It took a while to try to figure out a way to make something this complicated feel simple, because I didn’t want to make a time travel movie that gives you a headache,” Grabinski half-jokes in the Den of Geek studio right before Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice‘s SXSW premiere. “The only person who had a headache was me, trying to make a movie that doesn’t give you a headache!”cnx.cmd.push(function() {cnx({playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530",}).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796");});He continues, “I had the core idea and the first 15 minutes figured out for a while. I think I had written 15 pages of it in 2019, and then I ended up having some free time in 2021 to figure out what this movie was. I wrote it in one big swing then, because I knew the central dynamic, the tone, and the setup.” Indeed, the timey-wimey dynamic occurring with wiseguys was the selling point in Grabinski’s head: “I wanted it to be a fun ride, and if you do this movie wrong, it could be kind of annoying. That’s part of the reason why none of the characters are scientists. I didn’t want this to be a movie that got bogged down with Primer time travel stuff.”There’s been a lot of time travel shenanigans going around too. In fact, González wryly notes: “Weirdly, every project I have this year is time travel. I don’t know how that happened. I’m the time travel queen.” The Mexican star is referring to projects like 3 Body Problem. “Really, if you ever need any direction, I can really, genuinely just take you by the hand.”Yet the appeal of the film for everyone involved is less the sci-fi and more the character interactions and vibes they create along the way. Vaughn particularly appears to be in his element as a fast-talking knockaround guy after starring in movies like Swingers and Made once upon a time.“I thought all the characters were so fun. I really liked all the relationships,” says Vaughn. “You’ve got a bunch of characters, none of whom make great decisions. They’ve all made choices that aren’t the best. And even though Nick is the one who goes back with some perspective about what to do differently, to think about how his actions affect people, they’re all being pulled on a journey to face their choices. It’s almost like a Greek myth in that once the die is cast, the morality will play out.”“If this was a movie about people who made great decisions, it would be, like, 18 minutes long. We would all fall asleep,” Grabinski smiles. “The entertainment comes from watching people fail and then try to be better. If they’re already better, there’s no movie.”Obviously Grabinski is nodding to the characters’ seedy occupations, and yet there remains a universality in the approach. These are, after all, still folks who actually are getting a “do-over” button to fix past relatonship mistakes.Grabinski explains, “I think the relatable thing about the movie is not necessarily that you have regrets or that you wish you had a time machine to change everything. It’s that we all have relationships that change over time. Sometimes hindsight is the only way to diagnose what went wrong. Everyone’s had a friendship, romantic relationship, or a sibling relationship that started strong and changed. You get perspective by looking back and thinking about what you would do if you were forced to deal with the past.”“I understand why Nick went back,” Vaughn admits, before noting, “I think the point is that you have to move forward in future relationships. Everyone makes mistakes in relationships, and sometimes it takes those mistakes to see your side of what happened, and how you contributed do it. It allows you to be a better version of yourself in the future.”Does that mean that the cast of Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice would change their own pasts? As much as they understand why Nick does what he does, neither Vaughn nor González want a do-over.“Ultimately, I’m always interested in moving forward,” González observes. “I think there’s something beautiful in chaos, and I don’t like the thought of going back and changing anything. Some of the craziest, most beautiful things that have happened in my life have come from real terrible circumstances and bad moments of my life.”“I agree,” Vaughn adds. “I think everything that felt bad at the time usually ended up leading to something that was great for me. So all the moments that I wished I could change then, looking back on it now, I wouldn’t change any of them, because they’ve kind of taken me to where I am now.”Besides, thinking too much about how to go back in time and undo the past is bound to cause headaches, and nobody wants that.The post Mike & Nick & Nick & Alice Gets Timey-Wimey with Wiseguys, Vince Vaughn, and Eiza González appeared first on Den of Geek.