Made

Two would-be boxers (Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn) travel to New York on an errand for a low-level mobster (Peter Falk).

Made reunites the creative team of Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, who broke through together five years earlier in Swingers. Unfortunately, the magic present in that film only shines through in brief moments here.

The problems start with Favreau’s script. The characters he crafts for himself and Vaughn are neither relatable, nor very likable. While both men are strong enough actors to be believable in their roles, you never connect with them. Further, the script doesn’t provide a very strong supporting cast, leaving it to Favreau and Vaughn to carry the film more or less on their own.

Next there’s Favreau the director. He seems to allow Vaughn a good bit of leeway to improvise and while this does lead to some of the film’s funniest bits, it just as often feels forced or even lazy. A little bit of tightening would have gone a long way.

Ultimately, Made is a disappointment given the quality of work the talent involved has shown both before the film and since. Perhaps Favreau and Vaughn were a bit too comfortable with each other, or perhaps they were too close to the material to see it’s inherit weakness, but whatever the reason, you’re better off re-watching Swingers instead.