Swingers launched the careers of Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, and Doug Liman with a sharp, stylish look at heartbreak, friendship, and nightlife in ’90s L.A. It received a new Blu-ray printing last year.

Mike Peters (Jon Favreau) is a struggling comedian who’s recently relocated from New York to Los Angeles, but he’s still reeling from a breakup with his longtime girlfriend, Michelle. It’s been six months, and Mike hasn’t been able to move on. His friend Rob (Ron Livingston) tries to reassure him that his ex will only reach out once he’s truly let go—but Mike isn’t there yet. Sensing that Mike needs a distraction, his smooth-talking friend Trent Walker (Vince Vaughn) whisks him off to Las Vegas for a spontaneous guys’ weekend. Trent easily picks up a pair of women, but Mike can’t stop talking about Michelle, effectively sabotaging the night.

Back in LA, Mike spends time with his circle of aspiring actor friends—playing video games, hitting the golf course, and making the rounds at bars and parties. Encouraged by Trent’s bravado, Mike musters the nerve to talk to a woman named Nikki (Brooke Langton) and gets her number, only to panic and leave a series of cringe-worthy voicemails that drive her away. When his friend Sue (Patrick Van Horn) calls him out for being stuck in the past, Mike finally starts to confront how much of his life he’s put on hold. He considers leaving LA entirely, but Rob shows up and offers the support Mike needs to start moving forward.

At a swing night at The Derby, Mike meets Lorraine (Heather Graham), a fellow newcomer to LA who’s also recently gone through a breakup. Their easy chemistry is a turning point for Mike, and when Michelle calls the next morning, he realizes he no longer needs to hear her voice. Instead, he chooses to take a call from Lorraine, signaling a fresh start. The film closes with the friends at a diner, where Trent—once the picture of confidence—embarrasses himself over a mistaken flirtation, while Mike watches with a quiet sense of growth and perspective.

Swingers arrived a few years after the swing revival began gaining traction in 1989, which helped bring renewed attention to 1940s-era culture, Hollywood nightlife, and retro jazz music. Much like Clueless a year earlier, the film’s slang-heavy dialogue seeped into pop culture—most notably “money” and “Vegas, baby,” the latter coined by Favreau himself. These phrases weren’t just quotable; they captured a certain kind of hopeful, performative masculinity in mid-’90s L.A., where struggling actors and wannabe comedians waited for their big break.

While not strictly autobiographical, Swingers was born out of Jon Favreau’s own experiences navigating heartbreak and life in Los Angeles. He wrote the script in just two weeks as a comedic take on his post-breakup spiral. Favreau had met Vince Vaughn while filming Rudy, and while he was certainly familiar with Vaughn’s personality, he admits that Vaughn was the last person he wanted to hang out with after arriving in L.A. Still, that larger-than-life charm left an impression, and it became the foundation for the character of Trent.

Some of the film’s monologues were lifted almost verbatim from real conversations, while others were tweaked for comic effect. The characters were loosely based on real people Favreau knew, exaggerated just enough to work on screen. Over a year and a half of refining and rehearsing helped shape Swingers into the tight, character-driven film that audiences eventually saw.

Doug Liman only got financing under the condition that he also direct the film—he even took on cinematography duties himself. Rather than shooting it like a polished indie, they embraced a Clerks-style DIY approach. Locations were real and personal: Mike’s apartment and car were Favreau’s actual apartment and car. The Dresden Room, immortalized in the film, was secured only because Vaughn was a regular. They spent more on music licensing than on principal photography, but that gamble paid off—the soundtrack gave the film much of its pulse.

In a bit of Hollywood serendipity, Steven Spielberg saw Swingers while the team was clearing rights for Jaws cues, and ended up casting Vaughn in The Lost World: Jurassic Park. And in a cheeky bit of foreshadowing, Favreau even managed to sneak a Jedi mind trick reference into the script—long before he’d have a seat at the Star Wars table.

There was a brief window when studios showed interest in the script, but only if they could cast name actors. The filmmakers stood their ground and did it themselves. While editing the film, they sent a tape to Sundance but were rejected. That rejection ended up working in their favor—prospective buyers attended a cast and crew screening instead. They ultimately sold the film to Miramax.

Nearly 30 years later, Swingers still holds up as a sharply observed, often hilarious snapshot of post-breakup angst and Hollywood ambition. Favreau’s script is heartfelt and painfully relatable, Liman’s direction gives it a scrappy charm, and Vaughn steals scenes with effortless swagger. It’s a time capsule of ‘90s nightlife that also helped launch three major careers—and even with all its retro quirks, it’s still so money.

Bonus Features

• Filmmaker’s Audio Commentary
• Audio Commentary with Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn
• Making It in Hollywood Original Documentary
  • Art Imitates Life: Writing the Story
  • Life Creates Art: Getting Swingers Made
  • Life Imitates Art: Swingers Culture
  • Art Creates Life: Life After Swingers
• The Cutting Room Floor
• Swing Blade Short Film

DIRECTOR: Doug Liman
SCREENWRITER: Jon Favreau
CAST: Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Ron Livingston, Patrick Van Horn, Alex Désert, Deena Martin, Katherine Kendall, Brooke Langton, Blake Lindsley, and Heather Graham

Miramax Films released Swingers in theaters on October 18, 1996. Grade: 4/5

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