Sunday, July 17, 2022

Mad Dog and Glory (1993)

IMDb plot summary: When shy, soft-spoken Chicago detective Wayne "Mad Dog" Dobie inadvertently saves the life of local gangster Frank Milo, he's the reluctant recipient of an unusual one week "thank you" gift - a beautiful bartender named Glory.
Directed by John McNaughton. Starring Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, and Bill Murray.

Mad Dog and Glory features Robert De Niro as a mild-mannered policeman who ends up saving the life of a ruthless mob boss played by Bill Murray. In return, Murray "gifts" him with Uma Thurman. De Niro doesn't want this but is worried he'll offend Murray if he sends her away, so the two live together for awhile, at first uncomfortably and then with a growing sense of companionship. It's really fun seeing De Niro and Murray playing against type like this -- if you'd given me the plot separate from the characters I'd have bet their roles were switched -- and they both do a good job with it. The romance element doesn't sell me nearly as much. Thurman seems stiff here, even when she's supposed to be relaxed and happy, and I just don't buy their relationship. The script is also strangely awkward, frequently feeling like it can't decide whether it's parodying cop movie tropes or playing along with them willingly. So overall it's worth it to see for the two leads' performances, but it's not a great movie outside of that.

How it entered my Flickchart:
Mad Dog and Glory < Les Miserables
Mad Dog and Glory > Wrath of Man
Mad Dog and Glory > Choke
Mad Dog and Glory < Heat
Mad Dog and Glory > Away From Her
Mad Dog and Glory > Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Mad Dog and Glory < Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
Mad Dog and Glory > Tin Man
Mad Dog and Glory < The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer
Mad Dog and Glory < Almost Famous
Mad Dog and Glory > Hysteria
Mad Dog and Glory > Enemy of the State
Final spot: #2069 out of 3610, or 43%.

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