Made (2001)

Very Cool!!!

Just perfect...

Absolutely Fantastic

One of the most extraordinary films you will see this year. Take that as you want.

"Made" was the movie that reunited Jon Favreau & Vince Vaughn five years after their surprise breakthrough hit "Swingers". This time, Favreau himself handled the directing duties for the first time in his career, while also writing the screenplay.The setup this time around has certain similarities to "Swingers". This time, instead of being a struggling actor, the lead character is a struggling boxer. The dynamic between the two main characters is also quite similar.The story itself concerns a couple of unsuccessful pals getting involved in low-level organized crime by way of a money-laundering deal. Favreau's character tries to maintain some semblance of quiet professionalism while Vaughn's loudmouth character continually does and says the wrong thing practically every step of the way.As before, Favreau & Vaughn work very well together. Favreau is more or less the straight man while Vaughn is the enthusiastic but often clueless joker. In support, there are some memorable performances from Famke Janssen, Faizon Love, Peter Falk and (surprisingly) Sean 'P. Diddy' Combs. Also, watch for Bud Cort & Sam Rockwell in small, uncredited roles.Favreau's direction is ably handled, though it doesn't have the same panache that Doug Liman brought to "Swingers". My bigger concern is with the screenplay. There are plenty of laughs but in the final act it seems that Favreau can't decide if he wants to veer towards silliness or seriousness.Ultimately, "Made" contains an ample supply of funny moments but I don't think that the story completely holds together. That being said, since the movie does succeed in recapturing at least some of the magic of "Swingers" I'd say that it's worthwhile in the end.

Five years after lightning struck for Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn with the surprise hit SWINGERS, they attempted to re-capture that magic by playing more or less the same characters with the same antagonistic friendship in MADE. Except that instead of a simple, let's-go-to-Vegas buddy comedy, MADE takes the intriguing form of a mob comedy.Mob comedies often don't work, a fact that is amusingly referenced here (when on a plane to New York and told by the flight attendant that the in-flight movie is the awful MICKEY BLUE EYES, Vaughn sneers in disgust). But this one is actually pretty awesome.Favreau (who also directs, as he did with SWINGERS) plays Bobby, a bouncer who can't help punching out the clients that touch his stripper girlfriend (Famke Janssen). Vaughn is his best friend Ricky, and exactly the same kind of hilariously petulant asshole he was in SWINGERS, except even more obnoxious. In order to pay back the losses they've caused their Jewish mobster boss (a great Peter Falk), they are sent on a mysterious "job" in New York.Tonally, the film is a bit of a mess, but back in 2001 I really dug the way it whiplashes between light comedy, dark comedy, surprisingly poignant drama, and actual suspense, and I still do.The supporting cast is also great. In addition to the aforementioned Falk and Janssen, there is Sam Rockwell as a bellboy, Vincent Pastore and Drea De Matteo from THE SOPRANOS, Faizon Love, Jennifer Esposito, Bud Cort, and most interestingly, a convincingly intimidating Sean "Puffy" Combs as Falk's New York business partner, Ruiz. Oh yeah, and there's a cameo by Dustin (Screech from SAVED BY THE BELL) Diamond as himself that is pretty much the funniest part of the whole movie.Despite all the other elements, what it really comes down to is the comedic chops of Favreau and Vaughn.

It's strange, but when I had finished watching the full 90 minutes of this unusual but decent Movie that it felt like I was watching a gritty drama rather than an off-beat, dark comedy. Vince Vaughn was decent, but never seemed to keep his mouth shut. Constantly harassing people and winding them up with 600 questions per minute. (It felt that much) His acting wasn't bad, but got on my nerves at times. Jon Favreau wasn't bad himself. The film actually opens up like an old Rocky film in a boxing ring with the huge US flag shown dominating the room. It definitely felt more realistic than any Rocky film and the cuts & black eyes looked real. Great job with the face make-up. At times it was almost documentary like as me myself loving realistic movies as I do, it made the film look promising. But the acting wasn't spectacular and I did find that Ricky Slade irritated me with the countless interrogations. Bobby & Ricky are sent on a job by bobby's father, Max, whom doesn't like or trust Bobby's lifelong friend Ricky because of an incident involving a carpet cleaning van. They fly across the states to stay at a luxury hotel. During the plane journey, Ricky constantly harasses a waitress who threatens to get him in deep trouble. They arrive at the hotel and it isn't long till they fight and smash a lamp because Ricky refuses to give Bobby the phone. The film certainly becomes darker and grittier from them on. I did think it was worth the watch, and with it not being a long Movie, I give it a 6.5 out of 10.

This flick wasn't as cool as Swingers. Vince Vaughn is put in the weak / dumb guy role, and that isn't his strength. Why does he have a fake gun at one point? We want Vince to be the mile-a-minute chatter box who is joking with everyone, sassing friends, and sweeping girls off their feet (think Swingers or Wedding Crashers). But it's cool in it's off-beat way and has it's moments. It's great to see Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn together again. What you really want is a Swingers 2, but that kind of uniqueness is hard to repeat. Made is definitely worth a rental. Speed DVD it maybe (2x speed with high pitched audio if your DVD supports it).