Where to watch Made
1 1/2 Stars
Bobby is a struggling boxer and bodyguard for his stripper girlfriend. But he hates his work and wants to move up. So he agrees to go to New York City for his boss to help in the delivery for a money laundering scheme. His partner in crime is his best friend Ricky, an obnoxious loudmouth who has seen one too many mafia movies. Bobby tries to keep it cool and get the job done, but Ricky’s antics threaten to blow the entire situation.
The charm of Swingers is absent from Jon Favreau’s second pairing with the loquacious Vince Vaughn. The mouthy Vaughn stole the show in the indie darling of 1996, but in Made, his juvenile behavior is repellent. As a filmmaker, Favreau is working in the spirit of Cassavetes, specifically Mickey and Nickey, with a script that feels outlined and largely improvised, and while that adds “realism,” it also gives the story a meandering, uneventful quality.
I was such a big fan of the two leads that I saw Made on the big screen. The memory is that the movie was disappointing and that Favreau had fallen into the dreaded sophomore slump. Now, 25 years later, my perspective hasn’t changed on the film. This movie has three great scenes that close out the story. Vaughn and Favreau, acting as surrogate family for the child of a stripper, bicker like a married couple. That could have been the beginning of a great movie. It’s the last scene of this one.
Directed by: Jon Favreau
Written by: Jon Favreau
Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Joe Goossen