"Made"
Bobby (Jon Favreau) is a small-time hood who wants to become a champion boxer, but, with a 5-5-1 record, he is going nowhere fast. His girlfriend, Jessica (Famke Janssen), is a lap dancer, a fact he has a hard time with, especially when he escorts her to client bachelor parties. His boss, Max (Peter Falk), likes Bobby and wants to help the troubled pug, so he sends him across country to make an important drop. With his best friend, the very problematic Ricky (Vince Vaughn), in tow, Bobby heads for big trouble in the Big Apple in "Made."
"Made" tries to be a number of different things and, unfortunately, doesn't do any of them well. Bobby wants to be a champ, seems dedicated, and gives up. He wants to have a normal relationship with stripper girlfriend Jessica (Famke Janssen), but that falls apart. He wants out from his mob connections but continues to do Max's bidding out of loyalty. He knows his best friend is an obnoxious, troublemaking bore, but persists in putting up with every stupid thing Ricky does. There are also mob dealings, gangland ambushes, an ambiguous shady deal, a Scotsman called "The Welshman" (David O'Hare) and an unsung hero, limo-driver Jimmy (Vincent Pastore). There is plenty going on, but none of it has focus.
There is an amusing chemistry between Favreau and Vaughn as best friend characters, but, a few minutes into "Made" I'm asking myself "why in heaven would Bobby ever put up with the obnoxious Ricky?" When Bobby gets his friend a job as a driver for connected Max, Ricky sells the truck and pockets the money. When they go on the "job" to New York City, Ricky does everything he can to prove he is a jerk - over-bearing, he'll hit the flight attendant call button with the most inane requests just because he can, regardless of how annoying he is. When Max gives strict orders to stay sober and keep a low profile, Ricky gets hammered and lets everyone know he's there. And Bobby just puts up with it. The relationship never makes sense and Favreau doesn't try to explain the why of it except to say that they were boyhood friends. Vaughn's is a reprise of the same character he played in "Swingers," but even more insufferable.
While the camera centers on the antics of Ricky and Bobby, there are a couple of perfs worth mentioning. Sean "Puffy" Combs gives a good badass tough guy persona to New York-based Ruiz, an "associate" of Max. It's always a pleasure to watch Peter Falk even if his Max character only gets a few minutes screen time. Friends of Favreau make up much of the cast with cameos and small roles abounding with the director's buddies.
Favreau is trying for a gritty look and feel and uses hand-held cameras to an annoying degree. Too many tangents hurts the flow of the film and Vince Vaughn, while sickly funny, gets to be too much to take. "Made" doesn't make it and I give it a C.
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