Synopsis: An ensemble comedy about five guys, all in their twenties, all coping with the mysteries of life and women, and is set in the back streets and sometimes hidden clubs of Hollywood. It's a story told in the language of the "cocktail nation," a growing twenty something retro-Swing dance movement that's taken Hollywood by storm and is beginning to sweep the nation. Mike is down in the dumps because he left his girlfriend behind in New York when he came to Hollywood to seek his acting fortune. Instead, he's found loneliness and the blues. Now, after six months of dealing with Mike, his buddy Trent and the other swingers have had enough. It's time to bring Mike back to life.
Elsewhere Mike, Vince and their friends cruise parties, clubs and bars, checking out the action, and educating Mike in the nuances of dating, such as how many days to wait before calling a woman who has given up the hard won prize of her phone number. All of this is set to a backdrop of lounge music, crooners and even some rock'n'roll, plus there is a nod to film-making in a great take on Tarantino's 'Reservoir Dogs'. .
Favreau wrote the screenplay in a semi-autobiographical way, as an actor struggling to find a career in LA. He even wrote his friend Vince into the story, and much of the dialogue was based on their way of talking to each other and their friends. The story behind the making of this movie is a classic case of two guys with a screenplay doing the rounds of producers, and finally ending up shooting it on a budget (US$200,000) worthy of the catering bill for a week on a so-called blockbuster. .
With the fresh approach of first time director (Doug Liman), and a shooting schedule which meant using the real LA clubs and bars which feature, the end result is a realistic, funny, and fresh movie which belies the budget behind it and deserves the run away success it has had in the States. .