27 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
27 lines
2.6 KiB
Plaintext
making his directorial debut , actor jon favreau brings along his swingers co-star , vince vaughn , for this tale of two mugs on a career trajectory to nowheresville .
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favreau , who also wrote the script , is bobby , vaughn is ricky .
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by day they are construction workers .
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they also are wanna-be contenders , but neither has had much success .
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their last bout pitted them against each other and was a draw , leaving bobby's record at 5-5-1 .
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these two l . a . not-so-wise guys also work for max ( peter falk ) , a mid-level mobster , who is patient and understanding with bobby , but who hates ricky's guts .
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max has an easy job for bobby ; fly to new york and make a simple delivery to a gangster named ruiz ( a smooth and silky sean combs ) .
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bobby , because of his lifelong friendship with ricky , pleads with max to give his pal another chance and let him tag along to the big apple .
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against his better judgment , max agrees .
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of course ricky , a motormouth who inserts both feet everytime he speaks , nearly screws up everything .
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while bobby tries to stay calm and professional , ricky begins swaggering and throwing money around as if he was john gotti or tony soprano .
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the constrast in styles and the chemistry between favreau and vaughn is what makes made so enjoyable to watch .
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favreau with his hound-dog face and slow-burn personality could be a modern-day oliver hardy , only much wiser .
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vaughn is like someone vaccinated with a phonograph needle , he just keeps yakking and yakking , unaware of the havoc he creates .
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yet despite bobby's constant aggravation and agitation with his partner , a bond of affection and loyalty binds them .
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the contrast between the two friends is interesting to watch .
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bobby is button-downed , tightly-wound , always waiting for the next shoe -courtesy of ricky - to drop .
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ricky is mostly oblivious to the problems he creates and is genuinely surprised when he comes under attack for his faux paus .
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in new york , the two lackeys are like fish out of water , stumbling from one situation to another , trying to keep alive .
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combs is elegant , cool and low-key menacing as the gangsta they are sent to meet .
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falk is amusing in his small role , while famke janssen nearly breaks your heart as bobby's lowlife girlfriend .
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more than anything , made is a movie with heart .
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it is loud , obnoxious and very talkative .
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but the cameraderie between bobby and ricky holds the key to its interest .
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favreau does a commendable job in his directorial debut .
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he is a player to be watched as he can only improve with experience .
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