Made

The best thing about Swingers was the chemistry between the two lead actors, Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau. In Made, their chemistry is still there, and they have a bigger budget and better story to back it up.

Bobby (Favreau) is a wannabe boxer who only wants to settle down with his stripper girlfriend (Famke Janssen). His best friend, Ricky (Vaughn), has dreams of becoming a mafia hotshot. So when they're offered a job by Max (Peter Falk), they both see it as an opportunity to fulfill their dreams.

Unfortunately for the two, Ricky is not the brightest bulb in the pack, and he keeps messing things up for them. He nearly gets them killed, and makes it very hard for them to complete their mission.

On the other hand, Bobby is smart enough to be able to keep things rolling despite Ricky's stupidity.

Made is the first movie Vaughn and Favreau have done together since Swingers, and it turns out to be just as funny. Once again, Favreau plays the straight man while Vaughn very effectively provides the laughs. The scene on the plane is easily the best in the film, and one of the single funniest scenes I've seen in years.

All of the supporting cast, particularly Falk, is very good, with the exception of Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs. I still don't know how the trend of casting rappers in major roles started, but I'm hoping Hollywood soon realizes it was a bad idea. Sure, Will Smith has managed to be successful in both areas, but he's the exception that proves the rule.

Made may not be as big a breakthrough as Swingers was, but it has everything you loved about it, plus more of a story. For any Swingers, Favreau or Vaughn fan, or just anybody looking for an easy laugh, Made is the way to go.

The DVD is one of the best I've seen from Artisan. The picture and sound surpass the expectations they've set for themselves, and there are a whole bunch of cool extras.

First of all, the picture is shown in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen, and is pretty darn good. In a few scenes I noticed that there is a bit of grain (which could be from the original film), but otherwise it's quite impressive. It's not as good as the picture on, say, Moulin Rouge or Hannibal, but it's nice to see Artisan getting with the times.

The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound is about as good as the picture. There aren't a lot of sound effects that come out of the rear speakers, but there is some music. That's about all you can ask for from this film, since there isn't a lot of action.

Extras include a very good commentary by Favreau and Vaughn, and co-producer Peter Billingsley. You can either listen to it normally, or enable the "action" mode. It's nothing really special; it just has some light pen writing on the screen, like they use during sports games to illustrate what they're saying. A new a interesting touch, though.

Aside from the commentary, there are some deleted/alternate scenes, some amusing outtakes, a scene editing workshop, three documentaries (which are really just featurettes), and the trailer. The featurettes are called "Getting it Made," "The Creative Process," and "Making the Music of Made." Together, they touch on most of the process of making the film, and unlike many featurettes, are actually informative.

A very well done disc, for a very deserving flick.

Made, from Artisan Home Entertainment
94 minutes, anamorphic widescreen (1.77:1) 16X9 enhanced, 5.1 Dolby Digital
Starring Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Sean Combs and Peter Falk
Produced by Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau
Written and directed by Jon Favreau

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