Jon Favreau's MADE is a Must Watch If You Haven't Seen It, If You Have Here are Some Fun Facts
Jon Favreau got his big break as a writer in Hollywood with the 1996 Swingers, which is a classic. Whenever referencing Favreau’s earlier work, most people go to Swingers. While that is a great movie that I love, a few years later, he wrote and directed an indie film titled Made and that’s the early Favreau film that I love to reference because it’s so damn good and it always makes me laugh.
The film came out in 2001 and it centers on two aspiring boxers and lifelong friends, who get involved in a money-laundering scheme through a low-level organized crime group. “When Bobby (Jon Favreau) and Ricky (Vince Vaughn) accept a high-stakes delivery, the clueless duo is flown first-class to New York and thrust into the moneyed world of Ruiz (Sean Combs), a downtown Manhattan gangster. In a matter of hours, Ricky's delusions of grandeur unravel the entire operation and put both his and Bobby's lives in jeopardy.”
The film has a fun and solid story and the script is great. Seeing the uncomfortable and intense situations the two main characters find themselves in makes for some hilarious comedy and witty quotable dialogue. I quote this movie way more than I quote Swingers.
If you haven’t seen this movie, you’ve gotta put it on your must-watch list. I promise you won’t be disappointed! It just delivers some fantastic entertainment! The movie also has a great supporting cast which also includes Famke Janssen, Peter Falk, and Sam Rockwell even has a small role in the movie.
As you know, Favreau went on to have an incredible directing career! Made is the movie where he really got to show off his talents and skills.
If you have seen the movie, I’ve got a few fun facts for you to read through below along with the original trailer.
Vince Vaughn's dad Vernon makes a cameo as the Hollywood High School football coach.
Jon's grandmother Joan Favreau cameos as a field trip guide in a scene in Central Park Zoo. In another reference to Swingers, Ricky asks Bobby if he could pick up the "vibes" a girl was sending him.
The word "fuck" is used two hundred seventy-four times in this one hour and thirty-five minute film. That's 2.88 times per minute. Total profanities are three hundred forty-three, or 3.61 per minute.
The license plate of Jimmy's (Vincent Pastore's) limo reads "DBLDN11". This is a reference to a blackjack strategy articulated in Swingers, that one should always double down on an 11.
Bobby Ricigliano drives a 1977 black Pontiac Trans Am as an homage to Smokey and the Bandit, a movie that Favreau admires.
There is a reference to a company, "Cardiff Giant". The Cardiff Giant was a hoax conceived by George Hull, a confirmed atheist, after having an argument with a fundamentalist minister about the existence of "Giants in the Earth" as referenced in the Book of Genesis. In 1868, he built a ten foot carved statue, treated to look ancient, and buried it. A year later, when workers were hired to dig a well on his property in Cardiff, New York, the statue was discovered. A great public discussion ensued as Christian Fundamentalists defended the statue as proof of the giants. The debate went on long enough for Hull to make over twenty thousand dollars, charging fifty cents to peek at the "historic artifact".
When Bobby goes to pick up Chloe, she is watching a news story on fires. Ricky started this fire at the beginning of the movie when he threw his matchbook out the window.
In one scene, Horrace (Faizon Love) comments on Ricky getting all 21 Jump Street. Vaughn was in an episode of 21 Jump Street.
Here’s the original trailer for the film, which clearly is targeting the fans of Swingers.