Remember when Vince Vaughn was so money? A long, lean panther in a shiny suit padding through L.A.'s late-night lounge scene stalking beautiful babies? You could sense the uncertainty behind the swagger; the waver behind the cocky wink. The sarcasm that slipped sideways through a half smile was sly, knowing and a shade fearful.
It was 1996 when "Swingers" came along. The film would be the first to define Vaughn for most of us and he would come to embody its vision of retro hip. Other careers would be helped by the film, but for Vaughn it would turn out to be star-making material.
Like a lot of people, I fell hard for the promise of Vaughn. Could he develop depth and finesse to match the roguish charm in the way of Paul Newman? Would he stretch beyond the comedy in stunning fashion as Bill Murray has? Or figure out how to mine a darker, damaged side as Michael Keaton does? Or would he settle for Chevy Chasing his way through life, collecting cash while he can?
Reading the tea leaves of the 30 movies he's been in over the 13 years since "Swingers," frankly, it doesn't look good for artistic promise beating out money in the bank.
Vaughn has gone from intriguing to repetitive. The $63 million plus that the mediocre "Couples Retreat" has made in its first two weeks will only make matters worse. Hollywood has a bad habit of confusing money with quality.
I hate that about Hollywood. And I hate what's happening, or not happening, with Vince Vaughn's career. In fact, now that I think of it, there are 10 things that I hate about Vince these days. . . .
1. He's gotten lazy. Don't believe me? Take a random scene from "Couples Retreat" and another from "Four Christmases." Now close your eyes and listen to Vaughn and, unless he says "Santa," I will bet two-to-one you can't tell which film it's from; $63 million not withstanding, at some point the masses will tire of the same shtick.
2. He doesn't do drama. Vaughn has mostly skirted gritty stories, and that's a shame. In "Return to Paradise," as the friend who holds the fate of Joaquin Phoenix's character in his hands after a trip to Malaysia goes terribly wrong, Vaughn showed that he could do more than merely tread deep water opposite Anne Heche's and Phoenix's strengths.
