Made

I thought this movie was hilarious. To clarify things I have seen Swingers, but Made was the first that I saw out of the two. I have read another persons review where he goes on to say that after Swingers he was disappointed in Vaughn's character (Ricky). I agree only its reversed for me, Vaughn's character in Made was way funnier then Swingers, but we shouldn't compare the two anyway. Why? So they star the same 2 guys, that shouldn't mean anything other then that. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed Swingers, I just like Made more. It's definitely a movie that you appreciate more the more you watch it, I happen to own the DVD and every time my friends and I watch it we find hilarious bits that might have been missed in prior viewings. Another interesting thing I ran into while reading other reviews is that some people said if you like The Big Lobowski you'll like Made. I think the 2 movies are really different but interestingly enough I love The big Lobowski as well. Maybe its a similar type of humor, it never occurred to me to draw a comparison.

Jon Favreau's 'proper' follow-up to 96's 'Swingers' see's him as part of a double-act with Vince Vaughn. The whole film is based around this double-act, and the various banter that passes between them - mostly ricocheting from Vaughn's outrageously outlandish interactions with everyone he meets, and Favreau's handling of the ensuing situation.

At times this makes for extremely funny entertainment, at other times however it makes for extermely cringe-inducing entertainment. Your not quite sure whether to love Vaughn's antics, or want him dead. Your also left wondering exactly WHAT Vaughn's character helped Favreau's out with in their younger days in order for Favreau to have such as deeply-routed tolerance and understanding for the man.... personally, I would have gotten rid of him years ago.

The story itself takes a backseat because of Vaughn's antics, which is a shame, cause there's some really juicy material in there. I would have loved to see more development between Favreau and his girlfriend, played by Famke Jansen, and also Jansen's daughter. Peter Falk (yes, 'Columbo') is absolutely brilliant as Max, the ageing boss, fully believable and a fully-realised characterisation.

Overall the film fit's together extremely well - the pace is fast, and you do get caught up in it... even during Vaughn's most cringe-worthy moments. Basically if you like 'Swingers' or general crime-capers, you'll love 'Made'.

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

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.