Swingers (1996)
Directed by Doug Liman
After 6 years together, Mike's girlfriend leaves him, so he travels to LA to be a star. Six months on, he's still not doing very well— so a few of his friends try to reconnect him to the social scene and hopefully help him forget his failed relationship.
6 connections found
View:
6 films that influenced Swingers
What critics say influenced Swingers
It's not a terribly original idea, but then as one of the guys says, “Everybody steals from everybody” (this observation is closely followed by shots cheerfully stolen from Scorsese's “Goodfellas” and Tarantino's “ Reservoir Dogs ”).
I loved the hilarious situations, hip dialogues, the side jokes and the cool references to films such as "GoodFellas" and "Reservoir Dogs".
Working from Favreau's exuberantly witty script, director Doug Liman snakes his camera through parties and back-alley lounges, staging sly visual satirical allusions to Reservoir Dogs, GoodFellas, and Saturday Night Fever.
The well-crafted script (written in two weeks by Favreau for his actor friends) and slick visuals pay homage to swingers both past and present: from the Rat Pack of the 1960s and films like Ocean's Eleven to the current prince of pastiche Quentin Tarantino and Reservoir Dogs.
It enabled director-cinematographer Liman to work effectively in clubs and pull off genial visual spoofs of key scenes in "Casino" and "Reservoir Dogs."
The film has the soft, grainy look and slightly washed colors of cheap '90s film stock - the look of Reservoir Dogs and its many imitators, in whose company Swingers unexpectedly but deliberately places itself, despite being no more of a gangster movie than it is a Japanese period picture - and it makes that economical necessity a virtue, by letting that drive a kind of hazy timelessness.
He also counterbalances his blatant disregard for the rules of cinema by introducing some pretty cool aesthetics of his own – like the much talked about steadicam shot from the streets of New York to the inside of the Copacabana (which was lovingly duplicated in Doug Liman’s “ Swingers ”) – not to mention the final act of the film, where Henry Hill’s last day is portrayed in amazing detail and supplemented with an amalgamated soundtrack that begins with Harry Nilsson’s “Jump into the Fire,” and ends with George Harrison’s “What is Life.”
It's not a terribly original idea, but then as one of the guys says, “Everybody steals from everybody” (this observation is closely followed by shots cheerfully stolen from Scorsese's “Goodfellas” and Tarantino's “ Reservoir Dogs ”).
I loved the hilarious situations, hip dialogues, the side jokes and the cool references to films such as "GoodFellas" and "Reservoir Dogs".
Working from Favreau's exuberantly witty script, director Doug Liman snakes his camera through parties and back-alley lounges, staging sly visual satirical allusions to Reservoir Dogs, GoodFellas, and Saturday Night Fever.
Favreau, who co-produced and wrote the screenplay, manages to touch on Tarantino, as well as Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas" and Barry Levinson's "Diner," which this delightful, but ultra low-budget comedy (which was produced for much less than $1 million) is actually closest to in tone.
Here's Mickey Rourke in Baltimore, talking with Kevin Bacon in “ Diner .”
Favreau, who co-produced and wrote the screenplay, manages to touch on Tarantino, as well as Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas" and Barry Levinson's "Diner," which this delightful, but ultra low-budget comedy (which was produced for much less than $1 million) is actually closest to in tone.
While most critics would probably list something a little more classic (like “Citizen Kane” or “ The Godfather ”) as their inspiration for getting into the business, for me, it was Doug Liman’s hipster comedy that instigated my love of movies.
Advertisement
Working from Favreau's exuberantly witty script, director Doug Liman snakes his camera through parties and back-alley lounges, staging sly visual satirical allusions to Reservoir Dogs, GoodFellas, and Saturday Night Fever.
And Quentin Tarantino , on Santa Monica Boulevard, writing down ideas for “ Pulp Fiction .”
They may wear sharp suits and swear like longshoremen, but the male characters that populate "Swingers" are definitely not "Pulp Fiction" wannabes.