DVD Reviews: Made

What happens when you put two “Stooge” like friends into a job for the local American-Italian Mafia.  Absolute pandemonium of course.  This is what happens when two of Americas biggest “goof ups” friends are sent on a mission to New York as Mafia wheelers and dealers. 

Bobby(Jon Favreau) and Ricky (Vince Vaughn) are called in by the local big- shot mafia man Max (Peter Falk) who assigns them on a mission to do a “drop” in down town New York.  Little does Max know but these guys are like a room full of gas with a faulty power cable.  There is no telling what might happen.  Bobby is pressured into the job to do the right thing by his girlfriend Jessica (Famke Janssen) so he can earn some money to put towards settling down.  His usual job as builder is foiled when their new recruit Ricky starts yakking on the cell phone in the middle of a shift.  Ricky the big-mouthed, fast talking, fool seems to foul up everything that the duo attempts to do.  Soon Bobby and Ricky are on their way to New York and this is when the parody of fights and arguments unfolds. 

Rickie’s character can be summed up when you see him travelling with Bobby in the early opening credits.  Ricky lights a cigarette by lighting a whole box on fire and then throws it out the window, right in front of a sign displaying that tossing out cigarettes is against the law.  This and many other comical moments are a dime a dozen in this hilarious comedy.   

There is hardly a dull moment to be mentioned from this film.  The comical Hijinks that these two get up to, is a great laugh and was enjoyed heartily by this reviewer.  Just watch the scene when they are on the plane on their way to New York.  It is obvious that Ricky has never travelled by air before and does not know the custom of flight and only has is mental movie resource to guide him in what to do.  What ensues when Ricky constantly calls the air hostess for attention, asking “What sort of Action do you want from me to deal with these drinks of champagne”.  The hostess promptly threatens to kick the two men out and have security take care of them on the other end of the trip. 

The only slightly annoying part was when Max the Mafia head honcho speaks.  His croaky Ameri-italian accent is hard to understand and you may find rewinding and replaying a common occurrence.  The character that he (Peter Falk) is done well but it is only this slight shortcoming that the viewer has to see.  It would not matter so much if what he had to say was not so important, but as it stands, is one of most pivotal parts of the film. 

One crucial part of a comedy is a punchy script and this film does swing and connect in this regard.  The script is written by Jon Vaughn and you can see he has worked hard to make some of this the best dialogue that I have witnessed in an American movie.  One delightful part is when Ricky puts his foot in it bigtime when he says to the Scottish man “Tommy” after being told not to say the mans codename “I hear you are the red dragon”  Tommy reels and says “No the name is Tommy” more of the same follows which ends up with Ricky falling into some deep trouble.  “You are like a bull in a China shop, man”.  These are all just snapshots of a cleverly written script. 

The special features on this dvd include a whole host of features that are great to see.  There is two documentaries which show the creative process and the way the producers make the cinematography. The director of photography Chris doyle is shown to be in artistic control of how the movie is shot.  There is also a bit about the previous movie “Swingers”  which also starred Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn.  This was the foundation of the support for this film.  From this funding complexity in the locales to be filmed, the star actors are provided, to create a more cohesive and complete viewing experience. 

This movie comes highly recommended if you are a fan of swingers but also is compelling viewing for anyone who appreciates good comedy.  With aforementioned script and cinematography shot by acclaimed artistic talent of Chris Doyle, shows how an excellent movie can be “MADE”.