'Romantic comedy' is a phrase likely to bring most cinephiles out in a rash. This 1996 offbeat comedy skirts potential artistic suicide with a strained attempt at effortless cool, and plays out like a comedy of manners for the Tarantino generation.
Jon Favreau gives a magnetic performance in the central role of his own script, as a recently single comedian trying to make it in Hollywood, held back only by coyness, self-reflection and an annoying (and occasionally far-fetched) propensity for self-destruction.
The first third of the film follows Favreau on a road trip to Las Vegas with a before-he-got-irritating Vince Vaughan in support, in a doomed attempt to banish the ghosts of his previous relationship with a one night stand. While providing some good gags and employing a measured pace that intrigues, this section of the film sits uncomfortably with the remainder, which takes place in Los Angeles.
With a mostly forgettable supporting cast (Heather Graham lifts the quality somewhat with her late appearance) the crop of reservoir dogs around which the film is centred not only idolise Tarantino, but highlight an uncomfortable level of fan boy worship in Favreau's script. Indeed the juddering slow-motion walking sequence in the middle of the film, no doubt intended as arch and ironic, comes across as patronisingly derivative.
Engaging and funny, but a little too sharply scripted for its own good, Swingers slaps a dollop of 90s chic onto a well-worn formula and, thanks in most part to some bright performances, manages to entertain more than it irritates.
3/5
Jon Favreau gives a magnetic performance in the central role of his own script, as a recently single comedian trying to make it in Hollywood, held back only by coyness, self-reflection and an annoying (and occasionally far-fetched) propensity for self-destruction.
The first third of the film follows Favreau on a road trip to Las Vegas with a before-he-got-irritating Vince Vaughan in support, in a doomed attempt to banish the ghosts of his previous relationship with a one night stand. While providing some good gags and employing a measured pace that intrigues, this section of the film sits uncomfortably with the remainder, which takes place in Los Angeles.
With a mostly forgettable supporting cast (Heather Graham lifts the quality somewhat with her late appearance) the crop of reservoir dogs around which the film is centred not only idolise Tarantino, but highlight an uncomfortable level of fan boy worship in Favreau's script. Indeed the juddering slow-motion walking sequence in the middle of the film, no doubt intended as arch and ironic, comes across as patronisingly derivative.
Engaging and funny, but a little too sharply scripted for its own good, Swingers slaps a dollop of 90s chic onto a well-worn formula and, thanks in most part to some bright performances, manages to entertain more than it irritates.
3/5
