To Live & Die in LA: Review of Swingers

Classic from the Vault

Swingers

Director: Doug Liman

By Alex Watson

It is always charming when there is a comedy which creeps into our lives from absolutely nowhere and nearly makes our sides split from laughing. The nineties had it share of these movies such as Clerks, Groundhog Day and the Hot Shots films, but one movie that still stands up is Doug Liman’s tale of four men letting loose around Los Angeles in his 1996 movie Swingers which gave us a raw but ultimately real depiction of people search fame and more importantly, themselves.

Comedian Mike (Jon Favreau) had recently moved to Los Angeles from New York and is currently struggling to find any work- he is also unable to get over his failed six year relationship which end shortly before he arrived. His best friend Trent (Vince Vaughn) decides that to cheer him up, he will make it his mission to find Mike a new girl- in doing this the two men and their other companions Rob (Ron Livingstone) Charles (Alex Desert) and hot headed Sue (Patrick Van Horn) will learn valuable lesson about life and friendships and why you should only leave one voicemail!

A huge box office success on a microscopic budget, Swingers is one those 1990’s films that has stood the test of time and today is still as profoundly hilarious and affecting as it was previously. Written by former comedian Favreau, we are given a script that gives us a cluster of great character whom we can each identify with in some many ways. The core the film consists of the four men trawling various parties/bars looking for any kind of hook ups with Trent repeatedly assuring them “We are so money” it is established early on during a disasterous trip to Las Vegas that these men are not quite the key players they make themselves out to be!

The ordinary aspect of these people in Swingers is the element that works best and as we see the men bicker over playing video game ice hockey, their rubbish cars and eating in various dive diners makes for some of the funniest moments of the film and with Trent’s continuous theories on getting Mike laid are the kind we been overhearing for years. Along with some great Reservoir Dogs parodies, this makes for one of the most entrancing comedies of the 1990’s

Mike is a man who is truly lost in life and still pines for his former ex but is unable to move on from her as well! He forms the centre of the story and his pains throughout can be related by many single males and despite being told to ‘wait a week’ before calling a girl back- Mike’s repeated and desperate voicemails to Brooke Langton will make most of us wince for hours afterwards! But his friends are both a blessing and a curse on his happiness with Trent’s bad advice and Sue’s wannabe gangster mentality (which leads to a hell raising clash with a street gang). But all the while we yearn for him to turn things around!

This movie also provide a spring board for the careers of Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau and Ron Livingstone who are each equally excellent their respective roles. Vaughn brings great charisma to the part of Trent and his boundless energy and excitement makes for a great character who we would want to be our wing man! Jon Favreau is very authentic and touching as Mike and rings in a turn which establishes what a good talent he can when not behind the lens of a camera. Also look out for an early role for Heather Graham whose brief appearance makes the biggest waves!

Only five years after making this movie, Doug Liman would go on to kick start a movie franchise with the Bourne Identity, Vaughan has gone onto be one of the big names of gross out comedy and Jon Favreau had gone to direct the adventures of Tony Stark in Iron Man! Their success is highly deserved as Swingers is one of the funniest and real movies you will ever witness and if you ever needed a pick up film, then here it is! Congratulations Mike- you finally made it!

The Road to Nowhere: The Last Detail Review

Classic from the Vault

The Last Detail (1973)

Director: Hal Ashby

ByAlex Watson

The films of Hal Ashby have given us some of the forgotten gems of 1970’s American Cinema. He was one of the original pioneers of the New Hollywood Renaissance, from his off-beat romance drama Harold and Maude, to his social satire comedy Being There, Ashby always gave us films that were refreshingly real and depicted real people getting by in everyday life. But behind them was always a powerful message on current state of American Life. But his statements were never more poignant than in his 1973 classic comedy drama The Last Detail.

The story centres of two career Naval Petty Officers, Billy ‘Bad Ass’ Buddusky (Jack Nicholson) and Richard ‘Mule’ Mulhall (Otis Young) are charged with escorting young Seaman Larry Meadows (Randy Quaid) to Naval Prison in New Hampshire. Meadows, has been given 8 Years in jail for being caught stealing $40 from a Polio charity box. Feeling a sense of injustice for him losing his youth, Buddusky and Mule bond with Meadows during the long trip and make it their pledge to show him a good time before he goes away. During their long trip they take in the sights of Washington, New York and Boston- all the while faced with the impending guilt of having to take him to jail.

It could be said that The Last Detail is a bleak road movie. Usually in these films we have a feel good buddy comedy surrounded by hope and pretty scenery. In typical Ashby fashion he went against this. Throughout the film there is a large grey cloud lingering and a constant sense of dread. The cinematography in The Last Detail is distinctly un-glamorous, in their visits to the big cities there are no major sights shown, just the dim lit back room bars and grimy whorehouses. These elements give the audience Ashby’s view of American life and the cynicism that goes with it. This view is also shared in the isolation shared by the three main men. All of them are from poor working class backgrounds and are poorly educated. In order to escape mediocrity it seems the Navy, no matter how many headaches it gives them, is the best option for them in current jobless working climate!

The main theme that surrounds the story is the sense of time running out. We know that Mule and Buddusky have to turn Meadows over and their throughout the film their minds are torn apart by their pending decision. The final scene where they watch Meadows being dragged up the prison stairs to begin his 8 year torture; is truly gut wrenching! The fact is made harder by the friendship they have built up during their long trip. From the beginning we see three solitary figures, all of whom have their issues with the world. Towards the end their tie grows more stead fast and they feel more like brothers, but we know that this will all come at a price- and that price is the loss of Meadows Innocence!

Mule and Buddusky have consigned themselves to the fact that they are ‘lifers’ in the Navy and no matter what they will do their duty. This perhaps influences their desire to make sure Meadows lives a full life in the 5 days he has. As they walk away from the prison muttering to each other, we see them slumping back into the isolated figures they once were.

Jack Nicholson gives one of his best performances in The Last Detail. Buddusky is a compelling character, a Navy man who is finds solace in the violence of frustration. Through Nicholson’s fantastic and aggressive performance we hear Ashby’s voice of opposition to American life and we feel the impact is has through. Randy Quaid does well as the doomed Meadows, Quaid shows us a man who is naive to the ways of the world and this time is last he’ll have before being changed for life. Otis Young gives a measured performance as Mule, his character knows how desolate his situation is and that he has little other option an African American is 1970’s America!

Hal Ashby’s is one of the underrated names of cinema, but after his golden period, his career went into decline and he passed in 1988 largely forgotten! But in recent years his film has developed a cult following. Ashby was one of the last great film makers of the old days and this lead to some memorable, yet off beat pictures. The Last Detail was one of his last great films and it is here I recommend you start!