WGTC Weekly Throwdown: Which Is The Most Memorable Phone Call In Film?

Matt: Jon Favreau calls Nikki in Swingers

Phone calls – there’s a reason no one makes them anymore in a generation where texting and instant messaging are proving  much better methods of conveying information. Who wants to play back some long-winded message left by someone you probably ignored anyway, listening to every insignificant detail instead of skimming through a chunk of text for the important details. I know, we’re becoming robots who are losing all methods of healthy social interaction, but even when we had the opportunity, were we still participating in healthy social interactions?

People are awkward, silly entities who don’t know what to do or say on the phone when put on the spot, and no one exemplifies that more than Jon Favreau playing Mike in the 1996 comedy Swingers.

In the extremely uncomfortable “conversation” Mike has while trying to contact a girl he just met named Nikki, Favreau gets caught in a one-sided game of phone tag, being taunted by an evil answering machine with a traumatizing knack for cutting Favreau off in the most importunate times. Becoming more and more flustered by the situation, Favreau makes one bad decision after the next, as we literally end up screaming “JUST PUT THE F*CKING PHONE DOWN” at the screen.

Over the entirety of the scene, Favreau makes about 6 different calls, mentally goes through the entirety of a relationship, makes a complete and total ass of himself, and expertly obliterates any chances he has with this Nikki character. How do we know? He goes against every dating rule, calls too damn soon, freaks her out, talks about his past relationship, and literally breaks up with her all without ever actually talking directly to her – then she picks up. Her simple response? “Don’t ever call me again.” Then she probably went out, put a restraining order on Mike, and feared for her life (or she at least should have) after this crazy lunatic completes one of the most admirably bad self-conversations in movie history.

What we have here is the equivalent of a trainwreck though, so ugly and catastrophic you try your damnedest to look away, but even with all your might, your eye’s cant help but stay glued to the skin-crawling, socially unsettling horrors unfolding before you.  It’s one of those moments that makes you yourself feel all weird inside even though it’s just two characters acting on the screen. I don’t know, maybe we picture ourselves in the situation and react accordingly?

Favreau’s scripting of this scene is all but perfect, and his acting really draws out the horrid nature of dating and early phone conversations. In fact, this specific scene is honestly what sold me on Favreau as a filmmaker, because of the absurd reality of the scenario and the human nature Favreau is able to exploit through grounded scripting. The “conversation” is really a thing of beauty when you think about it, but then you start to remember how hideous the ordeal actually is, and you don’t know whether to pity or scold Mike.

The thing is, I’m sure Mike would have still found a way to mess that exchange up even if he were texting.