Made (2001 film)

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Made
Made film poster
Directed by	Jon Favreau
Produced by	Peter Billingsley Jon Favreau John H. Starke Vince Vaughn
Written by	Jon Favreau
Starring	Jon Favreau Vince Vaughn
Cinematography	Christopher Doyle
Editing by	Curtiss Clayton
Distributed by	Artisan Entertainment
Release date(s)	2001
Running time	94 min.
IMDb profile

Made is a 2001 film written and directed by Jon Favreau. It stars Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Peter Falk, and Sean Combs.

1 Synopsis
2 Plot
3 Cast
4 Movie connections
5 Reception
6 Trivia
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Struggling to make ends meet, Bobby agrees to enter the bottom rung of the local mob and perform a job in New York. His partner in crime is his best friend Ricky, an obnoxious loudmouth who has seen one too many mafia movies. Bobby tries to keep it cool and get the job done, but Ricky's antics threaten to blow the entire operation.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Bobby has ties to the local mafia boss, Max, but works as an honest mason for Max's construction projects. He fights in amateur boxing matches on the side, but his career is lackluster. Struggling to support his stripper girlfriend Jessica and her daughter Chloe, Bobby decides to do a mafia job for Max. Against his better judgment, he brings his ne'er-do-well friend Ricky along.

Bobby and Ricky go to New York to act as Max's representatives for a money laundering deal with his east coast partner, Ruiz. They meet Jimmy, who will be their driver, and Horrace, who is connected to both Max and Ruiz. Ricky and Bobby squabble throughtout their trip as Ricky tries to live large while Bobby wants to keep cautious. Ruiz has a low opinion of the pair, but sends them off to show the Welshman a good time. Gaffing several times along the way, the pair eventually manages to arrange a deal between Ruiz and the Welshman's Westie contacts.

Ricky grows suspicious of Ruiz and insists that they bring a gun to their meeting with the Westies. Bobby adamantly refuses. On the day of the meet, Ricky has disappeared, but Jimmy insists that Bobby carry on with the meeting. As Bobby begins to grow suspicious himself, he meets with the Welshman and the Westies. The Westies doublecross Bobby and the Welshman, but Ricky arrives from a side entrance with a gun. A Westie recongizes Ricky's weapon as a starter pistol and a fight breaks out. Jimmy arrives with a real pistol and sends the boys away while he deals with the Westies.

Back in Los Angeles, Bobby severs all business ties with Max. Arriving home, he discovers Jessica in bed with a client and snorting cocaine. He takes custody of Chloe and leaves. Some time later, Bobby and Ricky celebrate Chloe's birthday at Chuck E. Cheese's, bickering like an old married couple.

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

Jon Favreau as Bobby Ricigliano. Though Bobby has ties to the mob, he tries to lead a normal life as a mason and aspiring boxer. He is cautious and mild-mannered, but is also prone to losing his temper.
Vince Vaughn as Ricky Slade. A loud, obnoxious, and arrogant loser, Ricky has known Bobby since high school. He got expelled from school for protecting Bobby after a stunt. Ever since, Bobby has tried to help him out in any way he can, though Ricky always finds a way to mess things up.
Famke Janssen as Jessica. A stripper with a child, Jessica is not as committed to her domestic and familial responsibilities as her boyfriend Bobby.
Peter Falk as Max. An elderly mafioso, Max is indebted to Bobby and supports him with work in his shady businesses. He cannot tolerate Ricky, but employs him as well at the insistence of Bobby.
Sean Combs as Ruiz. A powerful underworld boss and mogul in New York, Ruiz has style, wealth, and a very low opinion of Bobby and Ricky.
Faizon Love as Horrace. A go-between in the crime dealings of Max and Ruiz, Horrace divides his time between Los Angeles and New York.
David O'Hara as The Welshman. A British criminal who protects his identity, the Welshman is interested in making a deal with Max and Ruiz.
Makenzie Vega as Chloe. Jessica's daughter from a previous relationship, Chloe is largely neglected by her mother and is much more fond of Bobby.

[edit] Movie connections

Because the film is written by Jon Favreau and stars Favreau and Vince Vaughn, it is commonly seen as a follow-up to Swingers. The license plate of Jimmy's Limo, "DBLDN11", is a reference to a blackjack strategy articulated in Swingers that one should "always double down on an 11."

During Dustin Diamond's cameo, Ricky refers to him as "Screech", referencing Diamond's character on Saved By the Bell.

[edit] Reception

The critical reception of the film was mildly positive, receiving a 67% "Fresh" rating at Rotten Tomatoes.^[1] The film received a limited release in America and had almost no release overseas. It had a world box office gross of $5.3 million,^[2] slightly lower than Swingers. Overall it was not as successful or as culturally influential as Swingers in spite of the increase in budget and star power.

[edit] Trivia

Made is noted for having many uses of the word "fuck": the word is used a total of 291 times. In fact, Made has one of the highest "fuck-per-minute" (FPM) ratio of any feature-length film: 3.1.
Tom Morello, most commonly known as the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave, makes a short cameo in the film as "Best Man." Adult actress Jenteal also has a small cameo in the same scene as a stripper named Wendy.
The high school football coach Favreau and Vaughn receive advice from early on in the film is Vaughn's dad, Vernon Vaughn.
The old woman leading a pack of school children through the zoo is Jon Favreau's grandmother, Joan Favreau.
The DVD was released in a 2-Disc Set with Swingers called The Money Collection. The collection's title is a pun on the mafia dealings in Made and the slang term "money" in Swingers.