Vince Vaughn is best known as being a member of the Frat Pack - a group of comedy actors that includes the likes of Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, and Will Ferrell. The height of his popularity within this group came in the early-to-mid-2000’s, appearing in comedies such as Old School, Starsky and Hutch, and Wedding Crashers. Though the actor has a bit of an eclectic filmography under his belt, as he has appeared in numerous well known dramas - and dramedies - before and after the height of his Frat Pack days.
Vaughn most recently appeared in the thriller Dragged Across Concrete alongside Mel Gibson, which sees release this weekend. To coincide with the release, here are five of the comedian’s best movies:
1) Brawl in Cell Block 99
The first movie on the list is Vaughn’s first collaboration with Concrete director S. Craig Zahler. Here, he leads the film as Bradley Thomas, a former boxer and drug mule who returns to his life of crime, only to be arrested and sent to prison, where he’s told to kill another inmate in maximum security, otherwise his wife and unborn child will be harmed. The movie is not so much an old-school beat-em-up movie set in prison, but works more as a slow-burning thriller. The pace may throw some people off but each time the film gets moving, it cranks things up to eleven. The film allows Vaughn - who at this point hasn’t led a dramatic movie in quite some time, outside of some supporting roles - to prove he still has plenty of weight as a dramatic actor, and has drastically improved since his early days playing disturbed killers in films like the Psycho remake and Domestic Disturbance. The film is brutal, bloody, and graphic, sometimes getting close to towing the line of uncomfortable. Though despite its pacing issues, it’s a highly engaging thrill-ride and one of Vaughn’s darkest roles.
2) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story
Out of all Vaughn’s Frat Pack movies, this is by far the strongest of them all. What makes this one so special is that it’s by far the most unhinged of all the movies that Vaughn’s involved with. It may be another underdog sports movie (as the title suggests) but it’s absolutely insane. The characters are incredibly silly and the gags are so over-the-top that it’s difficult not to crack a smile. It’s one of those movies that knows what it is and just tries to have as much fun with its premise as possible. Vaughn is the most straight-faced of the characters, leading the film as Peter La Fleur, the head of a gym on the brink of closing who enters a dodgeball tournament with some of his gym’s regulars in order to raise enough money to keep it open. The film is endlessly quotable, in part thanks to Vaughn’s dry wit as well as some of the outrageous lines from its ensemble supporting cast, including Ben Stiller as the antagonist and Rip Torn as the dodgeball team’s coach. Totally bonkers yet having as much fun as possible along the way, this is by far one of Vaughn’s funniest.
3) Fighting With My Family
The most recent entry on this list is the other movie Vaughn appeared in this year. Based on a true story, here he takes on more of a supporting role, playing Hutch Morgan, a WWE coach who takes on the film’s lead character Paige, played to perfection by newcomer Florence Pugh. Hutch Morgan is essentially a more hardened version of Peter La Fleur from Dodgeball, but it finds Vaughn at his funniest in quite some time, with drill instructor-like insults and a sarcasm that’s truly on point. Though while Vaughn is fantastic, this isn’t his movie to carry. Fighting With My Family leads its audience to believe it’s going to be another underdog sports film, but is actually much more of a British family dramedy that happens to just be about wrestling. The film is sometimes outright hilarious, and other times incredibly gritty as it captures the intensity of working class England. This one’s easily a current front-runner for one of the best movies of 2019 so far. For my full thoughts on the film, you can check out the full review here.
4) Hacksaw Ridge
Another film that finds Vaughn in a supporting role, this time directed by his Concrete co-star Mel Gibson. Based on a true story, the film follows Andrew Garfield as Desmond Doss, a conscientious objector who joins the Army during World War II as a combat medic, looking to help injured soldiers rather than fight in combat. Vaughn portrays Sergeant Howell, the drill sergeant of Doss’ unit who also leads them in battle during the war. This is another mostly straightforward performance by Vaughn, who gets in a few good lines as the drill instructor, and also has some solid dramatic exchanges with Garfield. The film is a bit heavy-handed, especially due to the fact that Doss was incredibly religious and it hits those themes hard quite a few times. The dialogue can occasionally delve into sappy, cliched territory. However, Garfield’s performance is stellar and you still manage to connect with him and stay engaged throughout the movie. Also, the war scenes are absolutely top-notch, highly thrilling, and contain plenty of emotional substance that they make up for some of the film’s faults. It may not be on the same level as some classic war movies - despite being nominated for several Oscars, including Best Picture - it’s still a well-done entry in the genre that’s certainly worth watching. Interesting bit of trivia, despite the movie focusing on real life individuals who were all American, Vaughn is the only actor in the entire film who is actually American, with everyone else being either British or Australian.
5) Swingers
The film that launched Vaughn to stardom is still one of his best. Written by co-star Jon Favreau and directed by future action-thriller director Doug Liman, Swingers finds Favreau as a struggling comedian named Mike who has issues getting over his ex-girlfriend. Vaughn plays Trent, an aspiring actor - and also a womanizer - who attempts to help Mike get over his ex, as Mike meets other women and gets anxiety that things will go wrong once again. The film focuses heavily on the swing revival of the 1990s, and because of this, it can often feel a bit dated due to its heavy use of lingo associated with that culture, which only lasted a few years in the 90’s. Despite this, the film still has plenty of wildly funny moments, thanks to the solid chemistry between a young Favreau and Vaughn, the latter who especially has a lot of fun with the role. Despite the film focusing on womanizing - with the perceptions by Vaughn’s character in particular also feeling a bit dated in today’s culture - it still manages to have a heart, and its characters still contain some great depth to them. The film does a great job portraying the struggles of getting over a bad breakup as well as the anxiety that goes along with the dating scene. Still funny, and very well-acted, this staple of the 90’s is still a fun time to this day.
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