| 100 |
Entertainment Weekly
The beauty of Swingers lies in the irony of its title: Despite their lounge-lizard posing, these guys will never really live up to their Rat Pack dreams.
|
| 88 |
San Francisco Examiner
Jane Ganahl
Like a Les Brown tune, a really dry martini and a hug from a good buddy, Swingers makes you feel warm all over, baby.
|
| 81 |
Mr. Showbiz
Has such perfect pitch in small matters that, as it builds, it proves no less capable in tackling bigger issues--and what begin as chuckles become deep belly laughs.
|
| 80 |
Time
Despite some rough edges and language, this is at heart a beguiling fantasy of comradeship.
|
| 80 |
The New York Times
Suspicious and hilariously self-absorbed, Favreau's every bit as comfortable in California as Charles Grodin's "Heartbreak Kid" was in Miami. [18 October 1996, p. C3]
|
| 80 |
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Stephen Thompson
Swingers has something genuinely rare: a fine script and realistic characters.
|
| 80 |
Newsweek
Andrea C. Basora
Director Doug Liman has an impressive eye for detail and an even better ear for dialogue, producing a perceptive and delightfully funny take on the buddy movie.
|
| 80 |
Los Angeles Times
Confident of its emotional effects, Swingers knows how to breathe life into its people, and hooking audiences is its reward.
|
| 80 |
TNT RoughCut
Tom Park
Hilarious.
|
| 80 |
Variety
Engaging, refreshingly human in its humor and becomingly modest in its aspirations, this hip look at being out of it announces some promising new talent and will play well with young audiences looking for comfortable entertainment that doesn't feel manufactured.
|
| 78 |
Austin Chronicle
Alison Macor
Actor-screenwriter Favreau and director Liman demonstrate with Swingers that they're definitely "money."
|
| 75 |
San Francisco Chronicle
It's no masterpiece, but it's real.
|
| 75 |
USA Today
Uneven, amateurish and borderline misogynistic. But it's also very funny, and it never loses its cool.
|
| 75 |
Chicago Sun-Times
The movie is sweet, funny, observant and goofy with a small ``g,'' which means you don't get paid, but at least you don't have to wear the suit.
|
| 75 |
Chicago Tribune
Doesn't really add up to much -- except a good time. But it's smart, funny and cute. With all that going for you, who needs to be money? [25 October 1996, Friday, p.H]
|
| 75 |
New York Daily News
It's a "First Wives Club" for single guys, giving voice to a whole range of authentic, if not always responsible, attitudes and emotions.
|
| 70 |
Film.com
For the most part, a delight.
|
| 70 |
LA Weekly
What counts here aren't the girls, but the boys--and all the sweet and clumsy ways in which they make love to one another without once shedding their clothes.
|
| 70 |
Chicago Reader
Movies about the trajectory from outsider to insider in LA social and professional circles--the two always seem inextricably linked--are a dime a dozen, but this one is fresh, thanks to a script by lead actor Jon Favreau that lets us know Mike knows he resembles a character in a movie even if he doesn't know he is one.
|
| 63 |
ReelViews
Enjoyable in a shallow way, but there's nothing so special here that it warrants more than a cursory glance.
|
| 60 |
TV Guide
The genial humor is occasionally marred by an overall sexist tone and some downright nasty homophobic and racist attempts at humor.
|
| 50 |
Baltimore Sun
There're some low New York laughs in Swingers and some nice clothes if you like bad taste, but on the whole, I'd rather be in Philadelphia. At least they know how to make a sandwich in that town!
|
| 50 |
Film.com
It's a very movie-conscious movie, and that aspect of it palls.
|
| 50 |
Dallas Observer
Jimmy Fowler
Film critics are put in a difficult position when they see a movie that's well-made but features characters so unbelievably odious you wouldn't want to spend two minutes with them in real life.
|
| 40 |
Film.com
This is a pretty leaden cinematic experience.
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