Mad Dog and Glory (1993)

User Rating:

6.2/10   

Director:

John McNaughton

Writer (WGA):

Richard Price (written by)

Release Date:

5 March 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

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.

Plot:

After his life is saved by a lonely cop, a mobster who moonlights as a standup comic, provides the cop with a friend: a beautiful woman.

Plot Keywords:

Police | Bar | Police Officer | Gangster | Coffee

Cast

Robert De Niro	...	Wayne 'Mad Dog' Dobie
Uma Thurman	...	Glory
Bill Murray	...	Frank Milo
David Caruso	...	Mike
Mike Starr	...	Harold
Tom Towles	...	Andrew the Beater
Kathy Baker	...	Lee
Derek Annunciation	...	Shooter (as Derek Anunciation)
Doug Hara	...	Driver
Evan Lionel	...	Dealer in Car
Anthony Cannata	...	Pavletz
J.J. Johnston	...	Shanlon
Guy Van Swearingen	...	Cop
Jack Wallace	...	Tommy the Bartender
Richard Belzer	...	M.C. / Comic

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, language, violence and drug content.

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:14 | Iceland:16 (video rating) | USA:R (certificate #31990) | Portugal:M/16 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-18 | Netherlands:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Germany:16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | Argentina:16

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Company:

Universal Pictures

Trivia:

Robert De Niro was initially offered the role of gangster Frank Milo, but he insisted on playing the timid Wayne instead.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the scene at the police station where Wayne is typing up a report while he talks to Frank, he uses white-out to correct a mistake. But since he's using a multi-part form, the typo would only be fixed on the top copy.

Quotes:

[Frank is doing his routine for a group of cops]
Frank Milo: My friend, Phil, he wants to join the police department. He goes to the station, and starts filling out the application. They ask him, "Mr. Scarangello, how tall are you?" And he looks at his right hand and says, "Uh, five foot ten." And they ask him, "how much do you weigh?" And he looks at his other hand, and says, "Two hundred and three pounds." So then they ask, "Okay, and what's your first name?" He goes...
[bobs his head from side to side, then]
Frank Milo: "Philly." They ask him, "what are you doing with your head there?" He goes...
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Broken Flowers (2005)

Soundtrack:

Oh Girl

Great

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.