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Made (2001) Artisan Entertainment 1 hr. 30 mins. Starring: Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, Peter Falk and Famke Jansen. Directed by: Jon Favreau Made Rating:  
E-MAIL GIANCARLO DE LISI 'Made' is quite possibly one of the most uninteresting crime films ever. Perhaps I am being a tad vulgar, but that is the sour and distasteful feeling one obtains after viewing this trepid film in the crime genre. Directed by Jon Favreau from his script, 'Made' tracks Bobby (Jon Favreau) and the devastatingly annoying Ricky (Vince Vaugn) through the amateur ranks of the criminal underworld. Expectations preceding the film were the usual, I always view films with a clean slate. I had enjoyed Favreau's previous written work in 'Swingers' and looked forward to a tight, character driven film. Yet with this film, my expectations were sunken. Perhaps I had missed something in this film, but I found this film to be a wretched waste of time. Favreau plays Bobby, an amateur boxer who wants to advance in the social aspects of vertical mobility in the crime scene. Along with his good friend Ricky, they become employed by Max; the head of a crime organization tirelessly played by Peter Falk. Falk's performance and delivery is so bad in this film it seems as if he has a hairball stuck in his vocal chords. Peter Falk is not the only cast member hired to spruce up this dull film. Puff Daddy himself, Sean Combs has an insignificant role in the film as Ruiz, Bobby and Ricky's contact in New York. At Max's disposal through a pager and 1500$ cash, our two pivotal characters set out for New York from L.A. on an undisclosed mission in order to do a 'take' and thus advance in the crime ranks. Between meeting women, spending a lot of money and endlessly bickering between one another, our movie advances at a deadpan pace while really not developing our characters and leading the viewers to understand and sympathize with them. Besides being a disappointing film, the film does have another outstanding aspect that will not fade from memory quickly. Vince Vaughn plays the most neurotic, annoying and the most silly 'act before he thinks' character. This might be a good facet of a film if done properly, yet when a character personifies stupidity itself - we know that we're on the wrong track. And of course, this character is supposed to redeem himself with a seemingly heroic yet stupid rescue attempt towards the film's finale. Yet in my eyes and to many others, this simply compounds the character's stupidity. And in the meantime, while Favreau and Vaughn are practically in every frame of this film, Favreau's character simply takes a backseat to the ensued stupidity on screen. Thus making for a relentlessly flawed film that satiates on absolutely no level. We still haven't studied the writing yet. Let us just say that there are pockets in this film that are incomprehensible. Just like our characters, the audience embarks on this top-secret mission as well not knowing what the mission is, or when it is going to happen, or how it is going to happen. And when it does happen - we do not care. This is how poorly developed and unoriginal it is. Does it bring anything new to the genre? No. Does it make a statement? Yes, its' statement is that this is a bad film and they are attempting at masking it as a different take on an old genre. Unfortunately, my criticisms are justified in terms of entertainment value. This film offers no escapist entertainment and even while filming against a great backdrop like the city of New York, the spirit and the essence of this city are not captured. Now, perhaps that can be debatable due to the possibility that Director Favreau didn't want to capture the essence of the city. That is a possibility, but when shooting a gangster picture and setting it at times in Little Italy and not establishing the important backdrop in a congruent and effective manner, we do not have a gangster picture, we have a 'wannabe' gangster picture that definitely does not have it 'made'. Click here to comment on this review or post your own thoughts. Giancarlo De Lisi © TheWorldJournal.com |
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