Mad Dog and Glory

A surprisingly strong script and solid acting performances saved what could have been a mediocre story involving cliché stock characters. As it turns out, the movie features a sensitive portrayal of a wanderlust cop, his wirey and scrappy colleague, an off-key loan shark, and a vulnerable girl. Each of the characters was subtly amusing and unique-- but not framed to be cartoonish. If the script had attempted to go in for more jokes, the movie would have suffered-- how many movies involve a disgruntled cop and a mob guy who sees a shrink? Too many... Many that often rely on overplayed cliché and slapstick to deliver. Or they go in for the melo-drama. Instead, the film just hopped along, taking the quirky story seriously, producing a film that is neither screamingly funny nor powerfully dramatic but instead small, light, and mildly interesting. Picture a just slightly-darker Mickey Blue Eyes, with a happier ending, a more interesting set of characters, and less humor.

Time and time again I try to see movie comedy try to transcend its material to create some sort of comic lunacy. They take all their characters and exagerate them to the point of being caricatures instead. MAD DOG & GLORY could very well have done that to Milo, Glory and Wayne. But instead of making a mockery out of their world for simple laughs and guffaws, director McNaughton plays the comedy at human level, in turn making this little gem something different. Every project John McNaughton takes on seems to be effectively low-keyed. He made HENRY one of the most frightening and violent films of the 90's by playing down the glorification of violence. He did it this time with the comedic material in MAD DOG & GLORY, making us laugh with its characters, and not at them. As for the acting? Impeccable.

If you don't like movies that are adequately summarized in a 20 second spot, if you do like to see actors work against stereotypical expectations and do it well, if you don't believe people or endings are all good or all bad and you're OK with that, this might be a movie you will want to add to your collection. DeNiro is doing the expected only in that he is practicing his patented shape shifting technique -- I found his characterization both believable and involving. Murray gives his first great serious performance -- who knew he could be menacing? Uma is hard to figure, in the way conflicted people often really are. David Caruso gives the most out-there performance I have seen from him, and in this movie it works. (I didn't know him in his first TV cop series, but this character is nothing like the one he plays in CSI Miami.) You might even find yourself rethinking what really happened, and liking that, too.

...but why?

My first guess would be...Uma Thurman. She's one of the most beautiful and talented actresses, that gives a special touch to a romantic movies.

Second guess? Always good Robert DeNiro, nice romantic story and some laughable moments.

All in all, this is one of the movies, which won't make a big change in the history of cinematography, but because of a special love story and Uma, will always have a special place in my heart. That's why a

7 out of 10

Mad Dog and Glory (1993)

**** (out of 4)

A lonely and wimpy cop (Robert DeNiro) saves the life of a mobster (Bill Murray) so as a thank you gift the mobster gives the cop a thank you present for a week in the form of Glory (Uma Thurman). The two eventually fall in love but since she's still the gangster girl there's going to be a problem with the cop trying to keep her. I still remember when this film was released as it got all sorts of very good reviews but it didn't really catch an audience, which is a real shame but the bigger shame is that it still hasn't become too well known even after fifteen years. To me this is one of the best comedies of the decade and a film that gets better with each new viewing. What makes this comedy so special is that we get two great actors changing their roles and playing the opposite of what we're use to seeing them do. I also think this is one of DeNiro's greatest performance just because of how fun he is here. We're use to seeing him play dark and tormented characters so it's great fun seeing him at the opposite end of the pole and playing a real wimp who really can't do anything right. Murray is downright wonderful in the role of the mobster who wants to be a comic. Murray's comic timing hits all the right notes and he even manages to come off threatening in the scenes where he has to try and rough up DeNiro. Thurman is easy on the eyes and comes off very well. Supporting players David Caruso, Mike Starr, Kathy Baker and Tom Towles also shine in their moments. Starr isn't very well known but he's always been one of my favorite character actors and his brand of comedy adds a lot of great scenes to the film. All of the comedy leads to a wonderful street fight at the end when DeNiro finally snaps and becomes the "Mad Dog", which is a hilarious sequence and in my opinion one of the best street fights in any movie. After seeing DeNiro's character being bullied the entire film, to finally see him snap was very exciting and funny.