Now, I've never seen "Swingers" and I'm still curious about the movie, even though I wasn't extremely thrilled with "Made." Watching the commentary, I heard Vaughn and Favreau mention that there were subtle references to "Swingers" sprinkled here and there, but I'm sure I didn't NEED to get those references to enjoy the film.
Don't get me wrong, I liked it to a degree, I definitely didn't loathe it. You can say this movie is smarter than most comedies in recent years. However, it drowns in excess. Of course, it can be most noteworthy for its two-hundred-or-so uses of the "f" word (in the commentary there's a funny moment where Favreau and Vaughn tally up all the "f" words used in a two- or three-minute scene which totaled about 43), but that wasn't one of the excesses that bothered me. First of all, the movie runs for only ninety-five minutes, yet it felt dragging. This is a not a three-hour epic drama we're talking about! Well, most of the film is dialogue-driven. Though I'm not totally against films that are dialogue-driven ("Clerks" is a good example of a dialogue-driven film that hits the mark), I felt the dialogue in this movie could've been trimmed. Surprisingly enough, Favreau mentioned doing a lot of editing (originally, he had about two hours and thirty minutes of footage). There were some funny moments that I just felt would've been funnier if they stopped the scene three minutes earlier and didn't wear it out. Though I was never totally annoyed by Vaughn's obnoxious character, I did feel somewhat annoyed when he would continue to gab on and on. I didn't feel the urge to yell "Shut up" in his ear, but I did feel like nicely telling him, "OK...that's enough. We get it." The arguments between Vaughn and Favreau do get repetitive. Early in the film, you want to laugh out loud when they start telling each other off. But as the film goes on, the conflicts lose their touch, to the point where they seem like two guests on the "Jerry Springer" show purposely arguing for the sake of arguing. Plus, I felt Favreau's character was so laid-back that at times it felt as if he was purposely like that so that Vaughn can shoot his mouth and he can get ticked off. I know he was supposed to be the straight man, but at times he just seems too straight for his own good and you wonder, "How the hell did these guys ever become best friends?" I know opposites attract, but this is ridiculous.
Sean "Puffy" (oh, I'm sorry--it's P. Ditty for anyone who cares) Combs is not the greatest actor. Wow, I'm surprised! However, he's only in the film for about twenty minutes and I can't say he ruined the whole movie. There are some amusing cameos--for example: Sam Rockwell as the flamboyant bellboy. Faizon Love (who's known for his many supporting roles in such films as "Friday" and "The Player's Club") is very funny as the bulky bodyguard. Peter Falk is great as Max. I grew up watching him on "Columbo," so it's great seeing him on screen after all these years. He's still got it!
The hand-held camerawork gets tiring after a while. I don't want to be cruel, but visually-wise this movie is poorly made. So we basically have to depend on the energy of the two leads to keep this film pumping. There are some obvious continuity errors, as well as one shot where you can see the reflection of the boom in the background.
I don't want to give away the ending, but I liked how the two characters evolved in the final scene. I found it amusingly ironic that they played the country song "Ace in the Hole" during the end credits. I can say the film ends on a happy note, without feeling forced.
"Made" is a fairly amusing comedy that just doesn't come together as a whole. Maybe if the dialogue was sharper and not as repetitive, it would've been a more tightly-knit film.
My score: 6 (out of 10)
Don't get me wrong, I liked it to a degree, I definitely didn't loathe it. You can say this movie is smarter than most comedies in recent years. However, it drowns in excess. Of course, it can be most noteworthy for its two-hundred-or-so uses of the "f" word (in the commentary there's a funny moment where Favreau and Vaughn tally up all the "f" words used in a two- or three-minute scene which totaled about 43), but that wasn't one of the excesses that bothered me. First of all, the movie runs for only ninety-five minutes, yet it felt dragging. This is a not a three-hour epic drama we're talking about! Well, most of the film is dialogue-driven. Though I'm not totally against films that are dialogue-driven ("Clerks" is a good example of a dialogue-driven film that hits the mark), I felt the dialogue in this movie could've been trimmed. Surprisingly enough, Favreau mentioned doing a lot of editing (originally, he had about two hours and thirty minutes of footage). There were some funny moments that I just felt would've been funnier if they stopped the scene three minutes earlier and didn't wear it out. Though I was never totally annoyed by Vaughn's obnoxious character, I did feel somewhat annoyed when he would continue to gab on and on. I didn't feel the urge to yell "Shut up" in his ear, but I did feel like nicely telling him, "OK...that's enough. We get it." The arguments between Vaughn and Favreau do get repetitive. Early in the film, you want to laugh out loud when they start telling each other off. But as the film goes on, the conflicts lose their touch, to the point where they seem like two guests on the "Jerry Springer" show purposely arguing for the sake of arguing. Plus, I felt Favreau's character was so laid-back that at times it felt as if he was purposely like that so that Vaughn can shoot his mouth and he can get ticked off. I know he was supposed to be the straight man, but at times he just seems too straight for his own good and you wonder, "How the hell did these guys ever become best friends?" I know opposites attract, but this is ridiculous.
Sean "Puffy" (oh, I'm sorry--it's P. Ditty for anyone who cares) Combs is not the greatest actor. Wow, I'm surprised! However, he's only in the film for about twenty minutes and I can't say he ruined the whole movie. There are some amusing cameos--for example: Sam Rockwell as the flamboyant bellboy. Faizon Love (who's known for his many supporting roles in such films as "Friday" and "The Player's Club") is very funny as the bulky bodyguard. Peter Falk is great as Max. I grew up watching him on "Columbo," so it's great seeing him on screen after all these years. He's still got it!
The hand-held camerawork gets tiring after a while. I don't want to be cruel, but visually-wise this movie is poorly made. So we basically have to depend on the energy of the two leads to keep this film pumping. There are some obvious continuity errors, as well as one shot where you can see the reflection of the boom in the background.
I don't want to give away the ending, but I liked how the two characters evolved in the final scene. I found it amusingly ironic that they played the country song "Ace in the Hole" during the end credits. I can say the film ends on a happy note, without feeling forced.
"Made" is a fairly amusing comedy that just doesn't come together as a whole. Maybe if the dialogue was sharper and not as repetitive, it would've been a more tightly-knit film.
My score: 6 (out of 10)