Swingers
Originally Written: July 2001
The key to making a good comedy nowadays is dialogue. If it zings, the movie will win you over; if it drops with the thud of a boulder, good luck getting anyone to care about the characters. It doesn’t always work like this; you get the right actors, and even weak dialogue can merely hinder a comedy. “Swingers” is a great comedy, and the dialogue is some of the best in the past five years.
Like “Diner” and “American Graffiti,” Doug Liman’s “Swingers” examines the everyday life of friends from a particular era; in this case, the mid-’90s. The friends in this movie are led by the loud, cocky Trent (Vince Vaughn), and are swingers, or 20-something males always on the prowl for- in Trent’s words- “beautiful babies.” Trent’s best friend is Mike (Jon Favreau), who has recently moved out to L.A. after breaking up with his girlfriend of six years. Mike can’t deal. “Swingers” opens with Mike confiding in his buddy Rob (Ron Livingston) about whether he should call her up or not. His advice- actually, it’s a round about way of avoiding answering- is typical of the sly, highly intelligent script that Favreau has crafted- sincere, honest, real, and a good way of developing character.
Trent for one, is sick and tired of Mike’s moping, and takes him on a hilarious road trip to Vegas. After an dismal failure at the tables, the two hook up with a waitress- amazingly allured by Trent’s slick demeanor- from the casino and her friend, resulting in the first of several hilariously subtle sight gags in the film. But Mike is still obsessed with his ex, and the trip ends on an awkward note. Once in L.A. again, Mike and Trent continue their search for beautiful babies at nearby bars and parties with a group of friends- Rob; Sue (Patrick Van Horn), named after the Johnny Cash song; and Charles (Alex Desert). After hitting a modeling agency party in the hills- where Mike strikes out in his attempt to “get back out there,” they hit the local Dresden Room, which gets an unforgettable intro with the help of “musicians” Marty & Elayne, performing a so-lame-its-funny rendition of “Staying Alive.” It’s here where Mike gets his first “digits” (phone number) when he meets Nikki (Brooke Langton, “The Replacements”) at the bar. To say more about this portion of the movie would risk spoiling any of the great verbal hilarity and gags incorporated, though I will say it includes- a car train, a hilariously absurd pep talk from Trent and Sue, a sly use of the “Jaws” theme, a run-in with a gang that ends with Sue pulling a gun, and- best of all- a war between Mike and Nikki’s answering machine that provides many a laughs and a brilliant masterpiece of desperation and bold comedy for Favreau.
Disparaged after the Nikki fiasco, we see him a few days later depressed about not only his ex, but also about his life in L.A.. After another one-on-one with Rob though, he gets back together with Trent and Sue after their previous adventures at the Dresden for another night out. Tonight, it’s The Derby, with contemporary swing kings Big Bad Voodoo Daddy performing (the band is also featured prominently on the dynamite soundtrack, featuring the likes of Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, and Count Basie w/ Tony Bennett, as well as snippets of the original score by Justin Reinhardt, performed by The Jazz Jury). Liman’s pacing and direction of this scene, as we first hear the music from the outside as our heroes go in through the kitchen (a sly nod to “GoodFellas” and the Copacabana scene), is particularly sharp, as his camera (he also does the camerawork) follows the trio from outside to the seat with a slinky grace that’s rare for comedies nowadays. The rest of the film is not quite as graceful as this sequence, but the verbal genius is too good to care. This last third of the film is a fantastic payoff to what we’ve seen before, as Mike meets Lorraine, who has just moved out to L.A. and is played with confidence and allure by Heather Graham (“Austin Powers 2”). Their meeting builds to an exhilarating climax which has the two burning up the dance floor to Big Bad’s “Go Daddy-O” while Trent and Sue watch on in amazement. The scene makes you want to cheer for Mike for finally putting his obsession of his failed relationship behind him. The triumph is made even cooler by a subsequent scene that helps ties up Mike’s changed outlook nicely and in ways I wouldn’t dare give up here.
The main performances are perfect in every sense of the word- funny, smart, nuanced, and refreshingly honest. As Rob, Livingston (later seen in “Office Space”) is probably the most level-headed of the group- the voice of reason when Mike is at his lowest. A running gag throughout the film is that everyone in the group is an aspiring actor (think a group of Joeys from “Friends”), whom always go on auditions- only to make excuses how “I haven’t heard an official no yet”- and can’t work up the courage to tell their relatives when they don’t land a part. The best use of this gag is when Rob is forced to audition for the job of Goofy at Disneyland; when he makes it known to the gang, one replies, “Well, at least it’s Disney” (a funny answer-turned-inside joke when Miramax- who’s owned by Disney- ended up distributing the film). Livingston plays the joke straight to side-splitting effect, especially when he’s bitching about it to Mike during a sorry game of golf between the two (both suck).
Favreau makes a sympathetic hero as Mike- his whining about losing his girlfriend can get a bit annoying, but he maintains our sympathy throughout. We relate with his pain, even if his reasons are different than our own. Another running gag in the movie is the idea of Mike being a comedian; it begins in the Vegas trip and continues throughout, with just about everyone he discusses it with laughing more at the idea of him being a comedian than his jokes. Still, he gets some great funny moments, such as when he recalls his pep talk from Trent earlier before meeting Lorraine (delivering one of the film’s most absurdly funny moments), the Nikki answering machine face off (he actually has a brief one earlier in the film as well, only of a more unrealistic nature), and just about every scene he has with Vaughn. His isn’t the showiest performance, but it does make an impression.
Instead, the showiest role is that of Trent, and Vaughn brings him to life in a sensational, star-making turn that he has only come close to matching in 1998’s underrated “Clay Pigeons” (not including his reunion w/ Favreau in this summer’s “Made,” just released). Trent is the big party guy who thinks he knows all about women, giving his buddy Mike a lesson in male-female relations every time Mike seems to be in a rut. However, his advice- which could easily be described as sexist- is not to be trusted, making this film a must-see for what NOT to do when trying to meet women. But sexist or not, it’s still a howl to watch Vaughn bring Trent to loud, confident life. Whether he’s relating an audition story of his to a couple of beautiful babies, hitting on a Vegas waitress, or trying to cope with the Hell of humoring a honey at a party- Vaughn is an absolute pleasure to watch in one of the most perfect supporting roles I’ve ever seen. The capper to Vaughn’s brilliant showcase is the final scene, a classic turning-of-the-tables that humiliates Trent in ways I wouldn’t think of giving up- it’s a must see climax to a first-rate comedy.
After watching “Swingers” again, it really isn’t hard to see why this film has- deservingly- acquired a cult following. The atmosphere is laid back, the dialogue is “money” (the film’s slang for cool), the characters are appealing and well-drawn, the acting is perfection (even in the lesser roles), the soundtrack is great, and the situations are honest and real, and don’t dip into farce. “Swingers” is ultimately a romantic comedy; it doesn’t follow the traditional formula of boy-meets-girl, boy-loses-girl, boy-gets-girl- that happened before the fact. We pick up after the boy loses the girl again, and there’s no chance for getting back together. In other words, we’re seeing what most movies wouldn’t dare show- the aftermath of the breakup, making the moment when our boy Mike finds his new girl Lorraine even more affecting. “Swingers” is the type of movie that makes you want to stand up and cheer. How many romantic comedies can do that?
