Well, Swingers fills that void. Instead of being a story about a group of guys getting into slapstick scrapes and unfeasible situations with women, like Old School or Road Trip, it goes deeper and has a more sensitive edge - but with a wicked wit that ever prevents it becoming sentimental.

The comedy is subtle and clever, having some of that uncomfortably realistic and awkward quality that made "The Office" so unwatchably watchable. Favreau and Vaughn's breakthrough performances create rounded characters that are right on the 'money'. Doug Liman (of later Bourne Identity fame) makes superb use of the low budget set up and borrowed locations to bring to life an atmospheric, cool but unglamorous Los Angeles, that is by turns unpretentious and overblown.

The real genius here, though, is Favreau's script, which contains the kind of true-to-life, quickfire, vernacular-filled dialogue that a group of guys can evolve amongst themselves. It will be easily recognisable to any chaps watching and the emotions expressed through it, ranging from anxiety over how best to chat up a girl to wondering why she hasn't called, will also be all too familiar.

Buy it. Oh, and get used to the words 'Money' and 'Baby'!

Boys keep swinging
Review date: 2005-06-23 Rating: 10 out of 10

I expect anyone who's a fan of this film will already own it on DVD, but here nearly ten years after its theatrical release (1996) is the Special Edition. Whether you buy depends on how much you love the film and how badly you want to hear the various commentaries or the making of or the deleted scenes. Worth seeing/hearing though they undoubtedly are, the real reason for owning this is the movie , a series of pacy fast talking comedy vignettes set in the L.A. lounge social scene and revolving around a bunch of young studs all out to have as good a time as possible as young guys are wont to do.
This is the debut feature of Doug Liman ("Go", The Bourne Identity") who clearly wasn't blessed with a large budget but directs in a metricious understated manner and is privileged to have a cracking script from Jon Favreau who also plays the lead role of Mike Peters, a jobless actor who is still hung up on the split from his ex- girlfriend. Peters is by turns annoyed and cajoled by his rapaciously slick best mate Trent who is played superbly by Vince Vaughn, as he attempts to cure his friend of his moribund obsession with his ex. They go to bars, have confrontations with other men, argue and try to pull women. It doesn't sound much but it's very funny and furnishes us with a some unforgettable scenes. There is one involving an answering machine that comes close to genius and Vaughn's attempted seduction of a young women across the seats of a bar diner is almost as good. Best of all though is the scene where Mike finally hit's it lucky, dancing with vertiginous glee to the swinging Big Bad Voodoo Daddy which brilliantly encapsulates the thrill of meeting someone new and just letting go.
This is a terrific hugely enjoyable film, crackling with energy and spiky wit. The sound track is superb, and is actually worth owning in its own right. If you don't own this already then this is the version to go for.It, s a bit of a paradox but no film has made going out away from your T.V seem so enticing. If only bands like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy played near where I live.

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