Made (2001) Review

 

Made (2001)

Made follows two hapless friends, Bobby and Ricky, who accept a high-stakes delivery job in New York. Ricky's delusions of grandeur however, unravel the entire operation and put both of their lives in jeopardy.

While it may seem like a subtle attempt to recapture the success of Swingers, even reuniting Favreau and Vaughn, it’s important to note that with Made, this is a very different film. Favreau, like plenty of indie filmmakers of the 90s, tells this story through its interactions because realistically, there isn’t much story to go on here, just a couple of friends as they stumble their way through an attempt at organized crime. Bobby, the failed boxer and wannabe family man, constantly trying to maintain some semblance of quiet professionalism and just get by in life. And of course Ricky, Bobby’s loudmouth, fast-talking friend from childhood who continually does and says the wrong thing practically every step of the way. It’s this out-of-the-box relationship, with an emphasis on their contrasting personalities, that moves Made along, despite a story that doesn’t have much to say (something of heavy contention within the film). 

I wish I could say there is an evolution that takes place along their adventures, but it’s never about what happens, just how and why. Ricky and Bobby are no more gangsters than the actors they likely idolize on The Sopranos, and I think that, at its core, is what this is ultimately about. They’re not boxers, they’re not gangsters, they’re hardly friends, and it’s having to realize that fact and just make it work, taking in Jessica’s daughter, that cements that hard to swallow pill. 

We get a pretty nice cast, starring Famke Janssen, Sam Rockwell, David O’Hara, Vincent Pastore, Peter Falk, Sean Combs, Faizon Love, Vince Vaughn, and Jon Favreau. Favreau, like usual, plays it pretty straight in order to bring out the opposite in Vaughn, who excels in crafting a character who is impressively slick and annoying, aided by a smart script that fully flows into their bickering nature. 

Made, directed by Jon Favreau, makes for a neat story, in that it has no story, just a whirlwind of fuckups and odd interactions made to cement the incompetence of two unfortunate friends, who after exhausting every option, think that somehow, the mob could be the pinnacle of their mundane, tedious lives. 

7.1/10