Swingers

Five young men tries to puzzle out the mysteries of life, their careers and above all women. At the hip clubs in the districts around the film industry Hollywood, they talk about their triumphs and defeats at the bar counters. But Mike has great difficulties in participating. His self-confidence is severely hurt after having broken up with his girlfriend. In order to try to sort out his feelings, he has left New York and moved to Los Angeles. At the same time, he is trying to bring his acting career back to life. But the turning point seems to be out of reach for him. After six months he is still living in the past. He spends most of his time by the answering machine, waiting for his former girlfriend to call. Finally, his friends get tired of Mike's dreary fantasy world. Trent persuades Mike to come with him to Las Vegas. Amongst senior citizens with blue-dyed hair and one-armed bandits, they make an unsuccessful attempt to act like experienced gamblers. It turns out that Mike is as unlucky at gambling as he is in love. In the City of Film, Mike and his friends ponder over everyday problems, with occasional pauses for a game of video hockey. They drink copious amounts of coffee and sip at drinks with umbrella decorations. Naturally, their discussions are mostly about women, their theories differ when it comes to the question of how many days you ought to wait before you dial a telephone number you recently got hold of. But Mike's efforts to meet a new woman fail. Within half an hour, he manages to begin, as well as end, a relationship through an answering machine. Jazz from the thirties echoes in the background, Hollywood of the nineties has breathed new life into Swing music, and it has become as important to know how to dance jitterbug as it is to have a large wallet. ''You're money, you're so fuckin' money'', Trent says repeatedly, in order to make Mike realize his virile potential. And Mike realizes that lying is necessary to survive in an environment where success is measured in dollars. Swingers is a tribute to pub life, friendship and love, Jon Favreau's script is to a great extent autobiographical. The story is based upon his first years in Hollywood. It captures the raw kind of humour that is often heard among young men that are close to each other. Favreau, as well as h is friends from that period of time, are seen among the actors. The bar scenes take place in an authentic environment that contributes to the pulsing atmosphere of the film. The dialogue is both brisk and sure. Occasionally hitting the audience's head, like a Camel without a filter or an ice-cold Martini. LK

Premiärstatus
Skandinavisk premiär: Medverkande
Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Heather Graham: Producent
Victor Simpkins & Nicole Shay LaLoggia: Manus
Jon Favreau: Foto
Doug Liman: Musik
Justin Reinhardt: Talat språk
English