Review of Swingers (1996) by T L — 06 Nov 2009

One of my favorite movies of all time, Swingers isn't the Wedding-Crashers type of slapstick comedy intent on making you laugh at every word that comes out of Vince Vaughn's mouth. The humor is deceptive and crafty and even a bit dark, and it sprouts largely from the subtleties of the movie's ingeniously written dialogue. That's another way of saying that you actually have to pay attention, which I think many of the negative reviewers did not do. I will admit: the first time I saw this film, the low-budget indie quality of the production triggered one of my worst A.D.D. attacks to date, and I thought the movie was... well... boring. But I gave it another chance, and was pleasantly surprised. I've watched it, oh, 20 more times since(?), and find the rewatchability of this movie to be second to none.

The plot follows the post-breakup life of Mike (Favreau), who relocated to L.A. and is having a tough time moving forward from a 6 year relationship. He finds hanging out with smooth-talking sidekick Trent (Vaughn) and other local friends a comfortable distraction from a miserable life of obsessively checking his phone messages in hopes that the Ex will one day call him. His foray into meeting new girls is complicated by the fact that he has ZERO game. Despite his quirkiness, Mike is a genuine and loveable character whom you will find yourself rooting for every step of the way.

Swingers is an unfortunately accurate satire of how far some men can fall after bad break ups and the array of supporting souls that are there to pick them back up. It's a bit of guy movie, but every woman I've spoken to has loved it just the same.