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MADE: A "Movie's You Haven't Seen" Exclusive!!!

© Clinton Davis

Hey folks, Uncle Clint here with yet another film that bends and stretches the ideals of this column. I’m breaking new ground, tilling fresh soil… uh… writing a new thingy. Anyways, this new film is one you haven’t seen, not because it was ignored by the public or spat upon by society, but because it hasn’t been released yet. I had the opportunity to see this film at a local theater here in Austin called the Alamo Drafthouse, a theater any town would be lucky to call it’s own. This place, besides showing first-rate, first-run features, also hosts many special events, much like the one I attended on Friday. The screening I attended was only the fourth of this film in America, or anywhere else for that matter, which made it quite a special thing. Plus, to sweeten the deal, the stars of the picture were on hand for a little Q & A after the movie. But more on that in a minute. Now, the plot…

The film in question is MADE, the latest offering from SWINGERS scribe Jon Favreau, who not only wrote and starred in the picture, but directed it as well. Unlike his previous effort, Favreau treads much darker waters here, taking us into the fairly dangerous world of organized crime. The story is pretty simple… Favreau plays Bobby, a lousy boxer who has promised his friends and family that if he has a losing record after eleven fights, he’d quit the sport and take an offer from Max, the local Mafioso who’s been sponsoring his stripper girlfriend. Also, Bobby is trying to keep his best friend Ricky, played with amazing electricity by Vince Vaughn, from being killed or maimed by the aforementioned Mafia boss for various offenses. The two of them end up on a job in New York and all manor of wacky shenanigans ensue. As I’ve said many times before, I really don’t want to spoil any of the plot, so I’ll just leave at that for now.

Favreau and Vaughn shine in this film, cementing them as one of the great on-screen duos of our generation. A foul mouthed Hope and Crosby, a less-drug enhanced Cheech and Chong, they play and bounce off of each other like old pros, clearly proving that their chemistry in SWINGERS was no fluke. However, while Favreau is great as the solid anchor of the duo, it’s Vince Vaughn who walks away with the film in his back pocket. His performance as Ricky is a beautiful thing, encapsulating all the rudeness, all the audacity and all the downright stupidness that this character has so inherently bred into his genetic code. He’s like a one-man tornado, ripping though Bobby’s life, barely able to finish one sentence with out annoying or offending someone in the near vicinity. Now, Vaughn has been featured in some fairly lousy films in the past three or four years, but hopefully this will serve as some sort of wake up call to Hollywood that this is a guy of major talent. Beyond his mammoth performance, there are some other true gems of acting lying throughout the film. Peter Falk turns in a great, if not lengthy, performance as Max, the old Mafioso. He’s bitter, old and cranky as hell, but you can tell from his eyes that below the surface in the heart of a killer. Also of note is the surprisingly good performance of rap impresario Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs as the head of the New York syndicate. Puffy proves himself to be quite a capable actor and was a great addition to the cast. Now if could just stop shooting people, he’d be a great actor to work with all the time.

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