Swingers USA, R, 96 m, 1996
A negligible, though steadily funny portrait of a handful of LA hipsters on the make. The principal character, a self-deprecating sad sack named Mike (Jon Favreau, who also penned the screenplay), is going through a painful breakup, but his cocksman buddy, Trent (Vince Vaughn), is determined to get him back into the dating scene. Trent is a silver-tongued sharpie; the apple-polishing number he runs on the ladies is a thing of beauty. But Mike is too full of self-doubt to capitalize on Trent’s counsel, and he bungles every opening in ways that make you cringe and laugh at the same time. The movie's dialogue is peppered with its own peculiar slang (“money” means a happening fellow), and it has a rhythm reminiscent of Quentin Tarantino. (The film acknowledges that influence with a hilarious goof on the opening title sequence from Reservoir Dogs.) Swingers helped to popularize the neo-swing band Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, who get an LA club jumping with such toe-tapping numbers as “Go Daddy-O” and “You & Me & the Bottle Makes Three Tonight (Baby).” © Copyright 2007 by Edward Larsen Terkelsen. All rights reserved.
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