made ( 2001 ) 3 stars out of 4 . starring jon favreau , vince vaughn , sean combs , peter falk , famke janssen , faizon leve and vincent pastore . written and directed by jon favreau . rated r . 94 minutes . made is a comedy-drama friendship movie cloaked in the garb of the mobster genre . making his directorial debut , actor jon favreau brings along his swingers co-star , vince vaughn , for this tale of two mugs on a career trajectory to nowheresville . favreau , who also wrote the script , is bobby , vaughn is ricky . by day they are construction workers . they also are wanna-be contenders , but neither has had much success . their last bout pitted them against each other and was a draw , leaving bobby's record at 5-5-1 . these two l . a . not-so-wise guys also work for max ( peter falk ) , a mid-level mobster , who is patient and understanding with bobby , but who hates ricky's guts . max has an easy job for bobby ; fly to new york and make a simple delivery to a gangster named ruiz ( a smooth and silky sean combs ) . bobby , because of his lifelong friendship with ricky , pleads with max to give his pal another chance and let him tag along to the big apple . against his better judgment , max agrees . of course ricky , a motormouth who inserts both feet everytime he speaks , nearly screws up everything . while bobby tries to stay calm and professional , ricky begins swaggering and throwing money around as if he was john gotti or tony soprano . the constrast in styles and the chemistry between favreau and vaughn is what makes made so enjoyable to watch . favreau with his hound-dog face and slow-burn personality could be a modern-day oliver hardy , only much wiser . vaughn is like someone vaccinated with a phonograph needle , he just keeps yakking and yakking , unaware of the havoc he creates . yet despite bobby's constant aggravation and agitation with his partner , a bond of affection and loyalty binds them . the contrast between the two friends is interesting to watch . bobby is button-downed , tightly-wound , always waiting for the next shoe -courtesy of ricky - to drop . ricky is mostly oblivious to the problems he creates and is genuinely surprised when he comes under attack for his faux paus . in new york , the two lackeys are like fish out of water , stumbling from one situation to another , trying to keep alive . combs is elegant , cool and low-key menacing as the gangsta they are sent to meet . falk is amusing in his small role , while famke janssen nearly breaks your heart as bobby's lowlife girlfriend . more than anything , made is a movie with heart . it is loud , obnoxious and very talkative . but the cameraderie between bobby and ricky holds the key to its interest . favreau does a commendable job in his directorial debut . he is a player to be watched as he can only improve with experience . bob bloom is the film critic at the journal and courier in lafayette , in . he can be reached by e-mail at <a href= " mailto : bloom@journal-courier . com " >bloom@journal-courier . com</a> or at <a href= " mailto : bobbloom@iquest . net . " >bobbloom@iquest . net . </a> other reviews by bloom can be found at www . jconline . com by clicking on golafayette . bloom's reviews also can be found on the web at the internet movie database : <a href= " http : //www . imdb . com/m/reviews_by ? bob + bloom " >http : //www . imdb . com/m/reviews_by ? bob + bloom</a> 
