THE EPIC FILM JOUNAL - DAY NINE

Film Number 12 – Mad Dog and Glory

Starting off I just want to say that this is one of the strangest films that I have seen in a very long time, It embraces convention by never adhering to it. Robert De Niro stars as a Chicago police crime scene photographer, who one night ends up saving the life of a powerful mafia boss and aspiring standup comedian played by Bill Murray. Thankful to De Niro for saving his life Murray decides that he wants to help him out as much as he can, De Niro leads a tragic and lonely existence and Murray decides he needs a woman. Enter a young blonde Uma Thurman, tall as ever and towering over De Niro. She is indebted to Murray and must spend a week living with De Niro. De Niro, only being human is captivated by her, starts a relationship and falls in love leading to a fight with Murray for Uma’s freedom.

Tonally the film is all over the place; it begins with a gritty crime deal going wrong where two people are shot dead, it moves to a quirky tone with the introduction of Murray’s character. De Niro plays incredibly against type, in fact he was initially offered Murray’s part but wanted this meek role instead. His character is so tragic and lovable very reminiscent of more recent films like Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction or Ricky Gervais in Ghost Town, two films that I will never get tired of. This dark and hopeless character goes through he normal motions of breaking out of routine and taking more risks. I think a lot of the reasons why this film may have done so poorly is because it is so bizarre to watch De Niro play a loser he comments at one point “I wish that I was a brave and handsome man,” I don’t think that I have ever heard a line even remotely similar to this uttered by Robert De Niro in any movie. To all De Niro’s credit he completely nails the role and makes you wonder if it’s one he should have played more during his career.

Murray has very little screen time but makes the most of it, his delivery of some lines are very chilling “Don’t ever fuck with me, don’t ever disrespect me, don’t ever underestimate me.” this is followed by an arm around the shoulder and a lovable goodbye. What Is bizarre is how believable his role is and this is because of the already skewed world that the film takes place in. at only ninety seven minutes there isn’t much room for Murray’s character to have very much room in the film and I think if the script had been revised a bit more a few more scenes involving this character would have strengthened the story.

Uma Thurman is great to watch and the relationship that unfold between her and De Niro feels very real and convincing. She is a strange character she tells horror stories of how she was tangled up with Murray, moments where she was basically raped, thinking of these times as just being “life.” This is kind of what I’m trying to get at with the sporadically shifting tone of the film, the moment she talks of being raped was prefaced by a very tender emotional love scene and it is followed by a farcical comedy fight. The funny thing is that while the film is completely out of the ordinary and shows many signs of being a complete mess it actually works very well. I don’t know what it is that makes this triumph, it really seems like one of those very organic moments where all the right things come together for no particular reason. The film should be an absolute mess yet remains an overwhelming success.

It was produced by Martin Scorsesse and I wonder why he didn’t bother to direct, the film is very uneven but strong because of it. I am actually kind of floored by it, I really expected myself to hate a film like this but there is something wonderful about its variable mood, all the acting is so entertaining and engaging as well. There is good reason why you probably have never heard of it but this is one of the best finds I have so far and I can’t wait to decipher and deconstruct it in the future.

Strange, effective, brilliant, maybe even stupid. Well worth a watch.

8 out of 10