SWINGERS Review By David Wilcock (C)1998
Running Time: 90 minutes (1 hour 30 minutes) Starring Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn and Heather Graham Directed By Doug Liman
Another 'independent film', this comedy, which was brought by Miramax for $5 million, is good fun. Favreau and Vaughn (The Lost World: Jurassic Park, 1997) play Mike and Trent, two everyday 20somethings on the lookout for women. The film just basically follows their plight on the lookout for lurve, and along the way we get to meet some of their friends, see their attempts at chatting up girls, and just basically get a insight into their lives. And all of this is great fun.
Swingers doesn't rely on huge special effects, or big name stars to provide entertainment. No, it just has a great script and superb little known actors. The script, by Favreau, is great. Mike is always missing is girlfriend, who hasn't called him for six months, and every time he meets a girl, he always end up telling her about the ex. The audience feels for this pathetic little man, thanks to the great script. Vaughn is 'the money' (Swingers speak for 'the best') as the womanizing Trent, always on the lookout for a new girl. Some of his chat-up lines are awful, but he always seems to get the girl thanks to his 'hard man' nature. Vaughns character also gets the best laugh in the film, towards the end in a diner. The conversations that go on between Mike and Trent are great, but it never quite reaches Tarantino standards (which I suspect the film was trying to reach.) There are some excellent, laugh out loud jokes in the film, and some superbly funny set pieces (such as Favreau cringe-worhy battle with a answer machine that always cut him off before he finishes his sentence. Embarrassing to him, hilarious to the audience.)
Mike & Trents friends are also good, although there characters seem a bit underwritten, and we never really learn as much as we would like about them. Although this is primarily Mike and Trents film, it would of been nice to learn a bit more about their friends. They just seem to wander aimlessly in the background. But again, the lines they say are usually pretty good, and they do have some funny parts. It's just a shame that they didn't have more meatier roles.
The acting is superb. As said above, Vaughn is superb as Trent, he's definitely the best thing in the film. Favreau is also good, acting as 'the little man' very well, and the way he always feels sorry for himself is very funny. Graham (Boogie Nights, 1997) has a small but good role as Lorraine, a girl Mike finally falls in love with. She hardly features in the film at all, but she still manages to make an impact on the audience.
Swingers, then, is funny, but it does have some flaws. Firstly, the running time is a bit too short. The film comes to an abrupt halt, and I actually wanted the film to carry on longer. It never really comes to a satisfying conclusion, which is a shame, as most films are too long! Also, this type of film has been done too many times, such as Sleep with Me (1994). But these small flaws don't really spoil what is a funny, entertaining comedy.
OVERALL RATING: **** out of ***** (4 out of 5) REVIEW BY DAVID WILCOCK
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