Reely Bernie Faves: Swingers (1996)

Some of the movies on my list represent time capsules in my life. During my most vulnerable and insecure years in late high school through the beginning of college, Swingers became my remedy for the pain after a breakup with a girlfriend, or when I needed that cheering up Mikey gets from his buddies in the movie.

Yes, the super cool, swing-dancing, “You’re so money, baby” bravado of this 1996 indie comedy hit has outdated itself, but I also think we are no better for it. In ‘96, the term “swinger” didn’t mean what it means today (shame on us). Believe it or not, we actually took swing dance lessons back then and listened to postmodern swing bands like the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy (featured at the end of Swingers). And, although Vince Vaughn’s Trent character borderlines misogyny when we used to think he was the bomb, we have to remember that he ends up making a fool of himself at the end, and Jon Favreau’s Mikey ends up impressing the girl he met on the dance floor (Heather Graham) just by being himself.

If you’ve seen Director Doug Liman’s Swingers, you know all about the tough guy vs. sensitive guy jabs, super cool nightclubbing walk in Reservoir Dogs-fashion, the layered attire, a self-deprecating Los Angeles, the cringeworthy answer machine scene, and the famous lines:

This place is dead anyways.

I want you to remember this face, here. Okay? This is the guy behind the guy behind the guy.

Vegas, baby. Vegas!

I needed Swingers because I lived in Mikey’s shoes and put the pain of a breakup before everything in my life. I didn’t have enough experience or confidence to know that it wasn’t the end of the world. And, as much as Trent could be overly pompous, his sense of humor and “guy behind the guy” brought me out of my shell. It is Mikey’s other friend, Rob (Ron Livingston), who has the wisest words:

You don’t look at the things that you have, you only look at the stuff that you don’t have.

Then, to go further, Rob mentions how he sometimes misses the pain of a breakup because he would live with it for so long. Imagine that: missing the pain. That always made me feel better, less alone, and more human.

Post Swingers, Ron Livingston would star in the cult hit, Office Space (1999). Vince Vaughn is most notable for Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004), Wedding Crashers (2005), The Break-Up (2006), and many more quirky comedy hits and misses.

But, Jon Favreau takes the cake after directing the most watched Christmas movie of all-time (Elf, 2003), and being the mastermind behind Iron Man (2008), the MCU explosion, live action Disney, and anything Mandalorian.

In my early twenties, Swingers was comfort, a poster from Blockbuster Video I hung on my dorm room wall, a killer soundtrack on CD, and a go-to when I needed cheering up. 1997 was the year its popularity, style, and music skyrocketed. I remember it like it was yesterday.

“You’re so money, baby, and you don’t even know it.”

Reely Bernie Faves:

1. Amadeus (1984)

2. Magnolia (1999)

3. Poltergeist (1982)

4. Pulp Fiction (1994)

5. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

6. The Godfather Part II (1974)

7. Weekend at Bernie’s (1989)

8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)

9. Goodfellas (1990)

10. Nosferatu (1922)

11. Pollock (2000)

12. Kicking and Screaming (1995)

13. Jaws (1975)

14. Fargo (1996)

15. Citizen Kane (1941)

16. The Blair Witch Project (1999)

17. The Endless Summer (1966)

18. Back to the Future (1985)

19. Angel Heart (1987)

20. The Passion of Joan of Arc (1928)

21. The Goonies (1985)

22. Trainspotting (1996)

23. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (2007)

24. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

25. Bambi (1942)

26. The Paradise Lost Trilogy (1996-2011)

27. Psycho (1960)

28. Parenthood (1989)

29. Swingers (1996)

30. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

31. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)

32. Smoke (1995)

33. Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981)

34. A Hard Day’s Night (1964)

35. Edward Scissorhands (1990)

36. City of God (2002)

37. 1917 (2019)

38. Black Swan (2010)

39. School of Rock (2003)

40. Mulholland Drive (2001)

41. Groundhog Day (1993)

42. If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)

43. The Greatest Showman (2017)

44. National Lampoon’s Vacation (1983)

45. The Florida Project (2017)

46. Cinema Paradiso (1988)

47. So I Married an Axe Murderer (1993)

48. Shadowlands (1993)

49. Steve Jobs (2015)

50. ¡Three Amigos! (1986)