Swingers
In case
you missed it

Pick #152

Swingers

Dir. Doug Liman · United States of America · English

6.9 Our score

1996 Movie Comedy, Drama

Paramount+ Fubo Kanopy Philo Amazon Video Apple Itunes Youtube

Our take

Not enough movies tell the stories of the down-on-luck, kind of uncool wolf-pack that still goes out into town with their wallets on chains hanging from their pockets and try their luck with the ladies. Mike, heart-broken actor-comedian pines over his ex long after she’s been gone, while his guys – Trent, Rob and Sue – try to help him get back in the game in a series of nights club-hopping and wingman-ing. You find yourself empathizing with Mike almost immediately if you’ve ever had a broken heart and root for him throughout his highs and fairly embarrassing lows. Sprinkled with clever references and subtle, refreshing humor, Mike’s journey to find closure is more than likely to warm your heart.

As a bonus, the flawed yet endearing gang of twenty-something struggling actors will take you to that charming 90’s nightlife in Los Angeles (with music to die for, by the way) and remind you that boys will be boys and that they’re just doing their best helping each other and themselves to keep it together with lots of “You’re so money, and you don’t even know it!”.

Streaming arrival

  • Philo
  • Fubo
  • Kanopy
  • Hoopla
  • Paramount+
  • Pluto TV
  • Prime Video
  • HBO Max
  • Showtime

What it won

Awards

Venice

1 nom

Nominated: Official Selection

Nat. Board of Review

1 win

Won: Special Recognition

European Film Awards

1 nom

Nominated: Screen International Award

The story

What happens

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.

Elsewhere

What the critics said

Notable Critics

"A winningly confident snapshot of the nightlives of a bunch of young showbiz wannabes in a very upto-the-minute Hollywood."

— Todd McCarthy

The details

About this pick

Year
1996
Type
Movie
Director
Doug Liman
Cast
Jon Favreau, Patrick Van Horn, Ron Livingston, Vince Vaughn
Language
English
Country
United States of America
Rated
R

Who picked it

About the author

Bilal Zouheir

Bilal Zouheir

Bilal Zouheir is the founder of A Good Movie to Watch. He is based in the US and a member of the Nevada Film Critics Society. He grew up in Morocco, where he learned English from watching movies. Bilal's work with A Good Movie to Watch is focused on offering an alternative to streaming algorithms, which are often used as commercial tools by streaming services.

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