MADE
Reviewed by Harvey Karten Artisan Entertainment Director: Jon Favreau Writer: Jon Favreau Cast: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Sean 'Puffy'Combs, Peter Falk, Famke Janssen
You wouldn't expect much symbolism in a comic romp once again teaming "Swingers" thesps Jon Favreau with Vince Vaughn, but in one scene a goldfish bowl turns over, the poor fish tossing miserably on the floor. This fish-out-of-water theme comes up time and again as writer-producer-director- actor Favreau plays the straight, serious Bobby to his pal's fish-out-of-water, clueless Ricky (Vince Vaughn). Largely unpredictable and decidedly uncommercial despite its easy-to- take comic overtones, "Made" casts a dark shadow over the two people whose friendship is not often a perfect blendship. While Ricky is the fun member of the duo, his unsophisticated antics lead both to face mighty serious trouble at the hands of the mob. "Made," then, gets both its laughs and its scares from pitting two unlikely men together as best pals and watching them play off their separate personalities against each other and the people with whom they're dealing.
If you enjoyed Favreau and Vaughn in Doug Liman's "Swingers"--a look at L.A. single life from the point of view of a man who has not gotten over his breakup with his girlfriend for six months--you'll probably dig "Made." While "Swingers" took pot shots at life in L.A., "Made" aims its barbs at the mob and, in fact, we can guess that writer Favreau is into parodying both the serious guy and his frivolous partner.
Favreau wastes no time signaling us in the audience about the basic difference in personality of Ricky and Bobby. Amateur boxers, they go at each other in the ring--Bobby closely defending his body while seeking shots at his opponent while Ricky deliberately opens himself up to damage, taunting his competitor. While working at their daytime construction job, they are called in by mob boss Max (Peter Falk) to do a job, a drop, which would require them to go from L.A. to JFK: "Oh, we're going to New York"? queries Ricky. While Bobby takes the job because he needs the money to get his girlfriend Jess (Famke Janssen) out of the striptease business and get a better life for her six-year-old daughter Chloe (Makenzie), Ricky seems to want nothing more than to live it up in the Big Apple. This gets Ricky and Bob into heaps of trouble and brings on the ire of their contact, Ruiz (Sean 'Puffy' Combs).
Much of the witty dialogue comes across as improvised, and successfully so, with Ricky repeatedly acting like the "duh" guy, as when the mob's big customer in New York (David O'Hara) says he's from Glasgow, Ricki wants to know "Where's that?" While the picture's spontaneous feel is furthered by Christopher Doyle's hand-held camera, "Made" has a sturdy narrative which moves forward at a deliberate pace getting its chuckles from its situation gags (many taking place in New York's Soho Grand Hotel in the city's most chic area), and our delight at watching Favreau and Vaughn ham it up in this clever and stylish buddy movie.
Rated R. Running time: 100 minutes. (C)2001, Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com
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