A Tale of Two

A Tale of Two is a 2023 American live-action/animated buddy comedy film produced, written and directed by Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly. It stars Xavier Shaquille, Lance Chantiles-Wertz, Adam Levine, Rebel Wilson, and Chloë Grace Moretz as the main cast.

The film was released in theaters on May 5, 2023, by Columbia Pictures. The film was met with mixed reviews and had grossed $93.1 million against a $20 million dollar budget.

Plot
Miller, an intellectual and independent but naive young adult, had decided to move out of his hometown Payson, Arizona. Boarding off the bus he was struck by, he finds himself in a town called Farepoint. Meanwhile, former mayor "Blue" Thomas plans a way to get re-elected. He plans a press conference, but his receptionist, Guntha, reminds him that his men quit after what happened. She thinks on announcing on the steps of City Hall. He gets up and kisses her for giving him that idea.

Passing his time, Miller goes to a Stripes and gets a Slush-Monkey. After leaving the corner store, a reporter named Tess Ember asks him knowing the reason about the re-election of Mayor Thomas, in which he does not; ashamed about this, she is trying to find a good story around town and the re-election is a good one she could fine. Apologizing for not getting anything for the story, Miller has her mark him down as a supporter. After he leaves, he discovers an adult man getting chased by a dog and Miller helps him. After he saved him, the man, who goes by the name Jake, repays him by letting him stay in his home. The next day, the mayor makes his speech at City Hall and promises free pretzels if they re-elected him. Tess finds it suspicious of his contribution. As the votes overflow, Thomas and Guntha celebrate with tickets to Fiji, Oceania, after his campaign.

Meanwhile, Miller and Jake talk about their lives and the events of them; Miller moved out of his hometown after eavesdropping on his community that he was called oblivious and a fruitcake, while Jake was the runt of his rich family and was ridiculed for his existence, which was where he took it upon himself to move out and he took half his family's money. During the night, Jake talks about sneaking into Sherrie MacLayne's party, which he agrees to. There, they invade the party with their dancing and incompetence. Sherrie then tricks them into a "Spice-off". After finishing respectively twelve bottles of hot sauce, she spikes the last two bottles and gives them to the duo. After drinking them, the duo hallucinates their way back home.

Tess gets suspicious about the campaign and eavesdrops on the mayor and asks questions to get her story. She comes to Miller for help, with Jake tagging along. She takes them to City Hall for clues to find out Mayor Thomas' scheme. They break in and search for clues. Miller finds a notepad, which belongs to Guntha's, in the mayoral office. They go to find Tess, but notice Thomas and Guntha have caught her after coming back. The duo hides and sneaks out. They go to the window and overhear about his plan, which they plan to stop them. The re-election party was being held at Thomas' mansion, and Thomas and Guntha hope their plot will not fail. Unfortunately for them, the boys thwart their plan by playing a recorded message of it Jake took after last night. The police arrive after being given evidence of Thomas' re-election scheme.

Thomas and Guntha are arrested and Tess, freed by the duo prior, gets her story. The very next day, she thanks them and returns to New York. After she leaves, the boys vowed never to let anything get in the way of their friendship. As they head home, they see Sherrie, with orange hair courtesy of Jake, charging towards them; the duo runs from her in the sunset.

Cast

 * Xavier Shaquille as Miller, an average intelligent but oblivious young adult who was a resident of his hometown Payson, Arizona.
 * Lance Chantiles-Wertz as Jake, an aloof and childish young adult who was part of a wealthy family.
 * Chloë Grace Moretz as Tess Ember, a reporter from New York that is focused on Thomas' re-election scheme.
 * Adam Levine as "Blue" Thomas, former mayor of Farepoint who plans on manipulating the citizens to re-elect him.
 * Rebel Wilson as Guntha Von Brown, Thomas' German-born secretary and fiancée.
 * Ariel Winter as Sherrie MacLayne, a woman who has a hatred for Jake.
 * Jane Lynch as Doris, Miller's mother.
 * Stephen Tobolowsky as Randall, Doris' brother and Miller's uncle.
 * Skyler Gisondo as Terrance, Miller's cousin and Randall's son.
 * Jacob Hopkins as Evan, Miller's eldest brother.
 * Rowan Blanchard as Jill, Miller's eldest sister.

Development
The story was originally a prequel to co-writer Xavier Shaquille's abandoned project On The Way, entitled On The Way: One Year Ago. The plot was similar while there were re-written parts in the final version.

Casting
Lance Chantiles-Wertz, who had previously worked with the Farrelly brothers on The Three Stooges (2012), was cast as Jake the lead characters while Chloë Grace Moretz was cast as supporting character Tess Ember. Adam Levine and Rebel Wilson were chosen as the main antagonists since Shaquille's idea at the start. Skyler Gisondo was originally chosen for the role of Miller before Shaquille took the role.

Filming
The film's scenes in Farepoint were filmed in at Sony Pictures Studios while the prologue was filmed in the actual Payson, Arizona.

Music
The film's score was composed by John Debney, who had composed the score for the Farrelly brothers' 2012 film The Three Stooges.

Release and distribution
The film was released in theaters on May 5, 2023. Shaquille requested that Sony let their primary company Columbia Pictures distribute the film on its own before he could start production.

Home media
A Tale of Two was released on digital formats on July 18, 2023, then on DVD and Blu-ray on August 15. The film was later added on Paramount Prime on March 1, 2024, due to Miramax's involvement on the film.

Box office
The film earned $19 million dollars on its opening weekend and had grossed $93,122,547.

Critical reception
Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 57%, based on 103 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The critical consensus reads, "Even if it's a combo of Wimpy Kid and the Farrellys' Dumb and Dumber, The Oddballs still shows entertaining witty surprises for the family." Metacritic reports a 70 out of 100 rating, based on 38 reviews, indicating "mixed-or-average reviews."