Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau: as un-made as Oscar the Grouch's bed

Together again for the first time since their breakout movie Swingers, Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn co-star in Artisan Entertainment's Made. Missing the smarts of Swingers, Made is a lukewarm comedy that relies mostly on its homage to other movies and moviemakers and the wannabe-Odd Couple camaraderie of Favreau and Vaughn.

Marking Favreau's debut as director, Made opens with a direct spoof on Raging Bull. From there, it mostly goes downhill. Bobby (Favreau) and Ricky (Vaughn) are childhood friends and aspiring amateur boxers and wiseguys. Under the thumb of mob boss Max-Peter Falk in his creepiest role yet and Favreau's tribute to Cassavetes-Bobby is given the chance to work off the debt incurred by punching out a customer of Bobby's stripper girlfriend (Famke Janssen) by flying cross country to make a high-stakes delivery. And because of some undisclosed childhood incident, Bobby won't go without Ricky, also indebted to Max over an incident with a carpet cleaning van. Of course, many hijinks ensue.

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In a complete role reversal from Swingers, Vaughn plays the fool to Favreau's cool-headed straight man. Their chemistry is at an all-time high here, especially when arguing in their posh hotel room, but it's just not enough to sustain interest in the movie. Not to mention that Vaughn's loud-mouthed bumblings grow tiresome rather quickly. I just don't think anyone could be as stupid as Ricky, especially when facing such a dangerous character as Ruiz, played awkwardly by P. Diddy in what we can only hope is his first and last role. While not entirely predictable, the ending of Made is completely forced. Set free by her unfit stripper mother, the neglected daughter (Mackenzie Vega) ends up in the hands of Bobby and Ricky, now both out of debt with Max. And baby makes three.

That said, the movie isn't entirely bad. The one highlight is Faizon Love's performance as Horrace. Much like his other character roles in movies such as Friday and The Replacements, Faizon delivers a performance that is funny, subtle and endearing all at once. It's his reactions to the outrageous and annoying Ricky that keep the movie from completely going over the top. Not to mention the scene in the stall of the men's bathroom, which without a doubt has to be the best scene in the movie. This scene also revives my faith in Favreau's knack for placing his characters in stressful situations and then giving them really funny things to say. Faizon commands each scene in which he appears. I only wish he were in all of them.

If you're a fan of Swingers, you might be disappointed by Made. But considering the entire premise is based on mobsters, the most clichéd and overdone characters in movies, Favreau does a fairly decent job mixing things up. It is unfortunate, however, that most of the interesting scenes in the entire movie occur within the first half-hour. My recommendation is to go the video store and rent Swingers, and while you're there pick up a copy of Clay Pigeons too. You'll want to remember Vince Vaughn in his glory, as his career might not recover from this one.

Beck Finley is a freelance writer and critic. She lives on the Missouri side of Kansas City with her husband, Ryan Kegley, and dog, Tummy.

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