Made

Jon Favreau's "Made" is an unusual film. It's ostensibly a comedy, and indeed a lot of it made me laugh hard. Still, when I thought about it later, I realized that I had not really seen a comedy at all. The situation isn't funny, the main character doesn't react to it in a funny way, and the resolution isn't played for laughs. What you get is a straight-laced, sometimes even rather flat kitchen-sink crime drama which Vince Vaughn grabs by the throat and, through the sheer force of his heroically obnoxious portrayal, turns into a bizarre sort of almost-comedy.

Jon Favreau is Bobby, a rather unskilled L.A. club fighter who makes his real living doing odd jobs for Max (a gravelly Peter Falk), the local small-time crime boss. Bobby lives with a stripper (Famke Janssen) who he bodyguards for, but one night a bachelor party guest puts his hands where they shouldn't go, and Bobby lays into him rough. Max is furious, but he likes Bobby, and gives him a chance to right his wrong. He must go to New York, rendezvous with big-cheese crime kingpin Ruiz (Sean "Puffy" Combs), and make some sort of ill-defined "drop". It might all go smoothly...if Ricky wasn't along for the ride.

Ricky is Vince Vaughn's character, and he's like a force of nature..if nature was obnoxious and pushy. He is not the sharpest cheese in the fridge, and he begins acting like a Mafia big shot even before they leave L.A., tormenting their stewardess with stupid questions. He bulldozes hotel valets, waitresses, club bouncers, and pick-ups with the sheer volcanic power of his boorishness, and most of it is actually really funny (not all of it; I actually started to feel bad for the stewardess). Vaughn proved his ability to play charmingly rude in "Swingers", still my pick for the best romantic comedy of the last decade. Here, it's like that film's Trent has been given a sharper suit, a mob expense account, and a small but definitely serious chip on his shoulder. Ricky is the reason "Made" is being called a comedy; he basically provides the picture's only laughs.

The other performers operate on various levels of reality. Favreau is more or less the film's lead character, but he's basically there just to play off Vaughn's disgraceful behavior and act indignant when Ricky gets them in another scrape. Falk is like a caricature of a too-powerful- too-long neighborhood kingpin. Janssen's character is played completely straight, and comes off as unlikable and rather depressing. Oddly enough, the only other actors in the film who really seem to be contributing a humorous atmosphere are Combs and Faizon Love, who plays the boys' liaison to Ruiz. Combs has a surprisingly versatile array of put-upon expressions, and Love's massive bulk and hostile bark of a voice work to scary-amusing effect.

Overall, though, Favreau seems a little shaky on what the tone of his film should be ("Swingers", written by Favreau but directed by Doug Liman, had a confidence that this picture never even approaches). There's lots of gritty hand-held camera from Hong Kong-based lensman Chris Doyle, and the sets' grungy low-rent atmosphere (even the hotels that are supposed to be nice look dark and a bit run-down) make it sometimes feel like we're watching a weird documentary rather than a fiction film, let alone a comedy. Favreau's dialogue is yet another "realistic" display that illustrates, if anyone had any doubts, that the f-word in and of itself is not a punchline. The film has a bummer of an ending followed by an out-of-nowhere epilogue that, quite frankly, I didn't understand.

I guess "Made" is what you'd call a human comedy, a picture where we're supposed to smile with recognition as we see characters not unlike ourselves who find themselves in unbelievable situations and try to deal with them just by being who they are. I'm usually not a big fan of this type of film. If you're calling it a comedy, I'd better be laughing. Still, Vaughn, Combs, and Love provide enough good moments that the picture is worth checking out at least once. Just don't expect "Swingers", and you should be all right.

All I have to say is I saw Made Saturday nite and it was hilarious. I great follow up to Swingers, but please do not expect the same movie. This is a different kind of flick, somewhat of a send up of the old crime/mobster movies. Favreau and Vaughn (especially Vaughn) are in top form, the two have a great chemistry and are a wonderful on screen comedy pair. As a New Yorker I especially liked the fact that this is a New York picture where as Swingers was a West Coast pict. Locales all across the city are used to tell a great tale (indeed one of the funniest scenes in the movie took place right outside the movie theatre). Also, big praise to Peter Falk (perhaps this is an Oscar worthy supporting actor role) who provides many humorous comments and gets the comedy rolling. And P Diddy, Sean Combs... I was ready to hate him, but a funny thing happened, he is excellent in his role as a NYC crime big. Funny movie, funny lines, funny moments. Definitely go seee it - a great follow up to Swingers.

MADE writer, director, and co-producer Jon Favreau did a good job with this film in that the movie was shot in twenty-six days. That is a very short amount of time in making a movie. With a low budget, Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn steal the show as two would-be boxers that are hired by a mob figure(Peter Falk) to settle business with another boss in New York City. Bobby(Favreau) and Ricky(Vaughn) dont know what is in store for them when they are confronted with the "real mob." Vince Vaughn is hilarious in this movie in that he tries to act like a typical mafia figure with money, women, and a rich lifestyle. He fails miserably in his attempts which backfire on him and Bobby completely. I remember seeing Jon Favreau as Sean Astin's best friend at Notre Dame in the movie RUDY, and as Cameron Diaz' husband in VERY BAD THINGS. I enjoy the work he does and RUDY is one of my personal favorites so that probably has something to do with why I like his work. I thought this movie was well worth watching although there is one thing i didnt like. The fact that Sean "P. Diddy" Combs was given the role of a mob boss didnt take to me very well. He should just stick to rapping and bag the acting. Other than that, I enjoyed watching MADE, especially Vince Vaughn's constant humor.

I tried not to have many pre-conceived notions about 'Made' before renting it. Then again, having Favreau/Vaughn together again will always conjure up thoughts of T & Mikey. Swingers may well haunt Favreau for the rest of his career. He alluded to that with his guest shot on 'The Sopranos'. It was a special movie, an instant classic which would be hard to top for any writer. 'Made' certainly tries to follow suit with the writing style but it falls flat. Vaughn (Ricky) plays a character who talks exactly like Trent but is more of a lunatic loser who's dream is to give up boxing to be a mob guy. Favreau (Bobby) is the level-headed friend who vouches for him while getting an assignment from his boss (Falk). All he wants is to get some $ so he can make better life for his stripper girlfriend & her child. Basically from there it splinters off into Ricky & Bobby trying to take care of 'the drop' in NYC for the boss (Falk). Ricky's "Goodfellas-like" mentality is causing headaches for Bobby who just wants to take care of business. I thought Sean Combs did a fine job playing himself essentially (a ganster living the high life). Yes, there are some funny lines but overall the movie is just too sloppy. It feels like a low budget flick, the camera work is not very good and the film takes no risks. Characters were not developed & the ending tries to be all sweet but I don't think enough was done to set that up. There were just too many missing ingredients. If Vaughn & Favreau want to do future films together maybe bring Doug Liman into direct it. He did a marvelous job with Swingers and maybe they could recapture some magic. It sure was missing in 'Made'.

Rating 6/10

Well, let me start by saying that as a fan of Swingers, I had high hopes for this film despite its bad reviews. After watching it however, I simply wonder why God, why? This might be the most annoying film that came out since "lights, camera, action" first came from a directors mouth. Vince, please Vince, tell me you owed Jon a favor. The character (sorry, I have permanently stricten the name from my memory) might make you feel happy that you were having your wisdom teeth pulled, and I am still dumbfounded how the Saprano's cast go suckered into the roles they played....In any case...save your money...save your sanity...save yourself....chose life.