Taglines: A cop who’d rather be an artist. A mobster who’d rather be a comic. And a woman who’d rather be anywhere but between them.
Mad Dog and Glory movie storyline. Wayne Dobie (Robert De Niro) is a shy Chicago Police Department crime scene photographer who has spent years on the job without ever drawing his gun; his colleagues jokingly call him “Mad Dog”. Mad Dog saves the life of mob boss Frank Milo (Bill Murray) during a hold-up in a convenience store. Milo offers Mad Dog a gift in return: for one week, he will have the “personal services” of Glory (Uma Thurman), a young woman who works as a bartender at Milo’s club.
Mad Dog learns that Glory is trying to pay off a personal debt and wants nothing to do with Milo after the debt is paid off. After an awkward start, they fall in love. Mad Dog wants her to move into his apartment, but Milo has no intention of letting Glory go. Milo says that Mad Dog has to pay $40,000 to give Glory her freedom, and sends one of his thugs to enforce the threat. Mad Dog’s partner, Mike (David Caruso), saves Mad Dog from the thug.
Mad Dog does his best to get the money but falls short by $12,500. Knowing that Mike can’t protect him, he courageously stands up to Milo himself, and ends up brawling with Milo in the street. Humiliated, Milo makes peace with Mad Dog and lets Glory go with no strings attached.
Mad Dog and Glory is a 1993 American crime comedy-drama film directed by John McNaughton and starring Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Bill Murray, Kathy Baker, David Caruso, Mike Starr, Tom Towles, Anthony Cannata, Richard Belzer, Jen Taylor, Evan Lionel and Jack Wallace. The film was theatrically released on March 5, 1993 in the United States.
According to a profile of producer Steven A. Jones written by Luke Ford, the film was delayed by a year because of studio-required changes. Jones and director McNaughton were contractually required to deliver the film with no changes to the script written by Price. Universal test-screened the film, then insisted on reshooting the film’s final scene. As written, when Milo and Mad Dog fight, Milo dominates Mad Dog. Mad Dog’s one connecting punch did no damage, but did serve to prompt Milo to realize that Glory was not worth fighting over.
It was reshot to respond to an audience typecasting of De Niro, whom they saw as the Raging Bull he had played more than a decade earlier. Those who saw the test screenings could not accept the fact that De Niro’s Mad Dog had done so poorly against Murray’s Milo. Such a reaction was ironic because De Niro had actually been offered the Milo role, and had insisted on the Mad Dog role instead precisely because of its meekness. Other reshoots for the film were done to make Glory seem less manipulative and Milo more of a puppetmaster behind Glory’s actions.
Film Review for Mad Dog and Glory
Mad Dog and Glory is a particularly strange film. It’s a movie that I saw in theaters back in 1993 and thought I may have been missing something as I walked out feeling neither like nor dislike towards the movie. It left me with a feeling that I knew there was a good movie somewhere lost in what was the final product. And that’s the sort of the same feeling I had seeing it again on blu ray years later.
Robert DeNiro stars as Wayne “Mad Dog” Dobie, a Chicago detective who can figure out a crime scene without any issues but can’t seem to figure out his own life. A single man who watches his neighbors make love or watches police dramas on the TV fantasizing on how he should behave as a cop, Wayne seems to go through life by the numbers.
When called on to a crime scene late at night, Wayne walks into a convenient store where the suspect of the crime is hiding, taking a hostage. Using his wits, Wayne saves the hostage by convincing the criminal to let him go. The man he saves turns out to be Chicago gangster, Frank Milo (Bill Murray). Frank thanks Wayne by giving him a pretty young bartender named Glory (a very young Uma Thurman) to stay with Wayne for a week.
Reluctant and uncomfortable at first, Wayne soon falls in love with Glory who may or may not feel the same towards him. After a night of lovemaking, Wayne is smitten over his young lady and feels he may need to rescue her from the gangster who, as it turns out, is holding her as collateral as her brother owes Frank money.
The screenplay was written by Richard Price, who has written some fantastic screenplays such as Sea of Love, The Color of Money, and the remakes of both A Night in the City and Kiss of Death. All four of these films I absolutely love and mainly due to the screenwriting (well, Color of Money also works thanks to director Martin Scorsese, who happened to produce Mad Dog and Glory).
However, with Mad Dog and Glory Price seems to fumble as the story never seems to capture who these characters are. While I love the fact that Wayne really wanted to be photographer and Frank may have always wanted to be a stand up comedian, these two characters do have a certain kinship that I wish was fleshed out more.
DeNiro has just too strong of a presence to play this type of role, at least how it is currently written. Wayne, while he’s supposedly sheepish, never seems to be that much of a wimp. He has no problem talking back to others, saying no, and seems to jump at a chance for a conflict when it gets closer to the films conclusion, all seemingly out of character. I would have preferred to have seen a gradual change in Wayne going from someone with no guts to someone with balls.
Murray also doesn’t seem as threatening or menacing enough to play this feared gangster. While I do love him playing against type, I would have liked him to have seen Frank lose his temper with perhaps one of his goons earlier on, showing the audience that while he can be charming and funny, he is also dangerous. Unfortunately that never happens and Murray’s charming personality overpowers this character.
Another flaw I had with the film is that Wayne seems to fall for Glory way too fast, saying he loves her within a few days of knowing her. But is he in love? He does say to Murray at the film’s climax “I’d rather be dead than be alone.” This makes me believe he just needed companionship. I feel this would have worked more if it was clearer to the audience how Wayne really felt.
While Uma Thurman is good in the role, I would have preferred that she turned out to be a massive manipulator, playing both men. I also think she’s just too young for the role as both men are much older than she is.
The film is well-directed by John McNaughton, the guy who brought the world one of the most notorious and controversial films ever made, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. McNaughton knows Chicago, being a native to the great city and he knows how to use the city as another character, much like Scorsese, Woody Allen, and Sidney Lumet know how to make New York City an essential character in their films.
Rounding out the cast are some great character actors and future stars such as David Caruso, Mike Starr, Kathy Baker and Tom Towles. It’s hard to steal a movie away from DeNiro and Murray but when these actors are on the screen, the film becomes even more energetic and entertaining. Starr is especially funny as Murray’s polite henchmen who shockingly has more humorous moments than Murray.
Kino’s blu ray looks fine although I did notice the picture looking a little soft at times. I also caught a few speckles from time to time but that is a rather miniscule complaint. The blu ray does come with an interesting audio commentary by McNaughton who discusses the original written ending, working with the two stars, and how he came about directing his first Hollywood production. As the film plays along, McNaughton does tend to get quiet, watching his own film as it plays. There are also short interviews with the director and actors on the film set, the best one being Murray speaking about the film at Robert DeNiro’s apartment, who keeps cracking up the veteran star.
I do love the concept (moments reminded me a little of the underrated Fingers) but I feel Mad Dog and Glory is rather uneven and odd, thus causing the film to be somewhat forgotten when discussing the three main leads’ careers. But it may be worth seeking out just for curiosity sake.
Mad Dog and Glory (1993)
Directed by: John McNaughton
Starring: Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Bill Murray, Kathy Baker, David Caruso, Mike Starr, Tom Towles, Anthony Cannata, Richard Belzer, Jen Taylor, Evan Lionel, Jack Wallace
Screenplay by: Richard Price
Production Design by: David Chapman
Cinematography by: Robby Müller
Film Editing by: Elena Maganini, Craig McKay
Costume Design by: Rita Ryack
Set Decoration by: Leslie Pope
Art Direction by: Mark Haack
Music by: Elmer Bernstein, Terje Rypdal
MPAA Rating: R for sexuality, language, violence and drug content.
Distributed by: Universal Pictures
Release Date: March 5, 1993
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