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''Mad Dog and Glory'' is a 1993 American
crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definitions of", in Ca ...
comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
film directed by John McNaughton and starring
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
,
Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and former model. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 an ...
, and
Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nig ...
, and supporting roles from well known actors
Richard Belzer Richard Jay Belzer (born August 4, 1944) is a retired American actor, stand-up comedian, and author. He is best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/Sergeant, and DA Investigator John Munch, whom he has portrayed as a regular cast ...
and
David Caruso David Stephen Caruso (born January 7, 1956) is a retired American actor and producer, best known for his roles as Detective John Kelly on the ABC crime drama ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–94) and Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the CBS series '' CSI: M ...
as De Niro's partner.


Plot

Wayne Dobie is a shy
Chicago Police Department The Chicago Police Department (CPD) is the municipal law enforcement agency of the U.S. city of Chicago, Illinois, under the jurisdiction of the City Council. It is the second-largest municipal police department in the United States, behind t ...
crime scene photographer who has spent years on the job without ever drawing his gun; his colleagues jokingly call him "Mad Dog". Wayne saves the life of mob boss Frank Milo during a hold-up in a convenience store. Milo offers Wayne a gift in return: for one week, he will have the "personal services" of Glory, a young woman who works as a bartender at Milo's club. Wayne 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. Wayne wants her to move into his apartment, but Milo has no intention of letting Glory go, saying that he owns her. When Wayne doesn't comply, Milo sends one of his thugs, Harold, to take Glory away by force, but Wayne's partner Mike is waiting and beats Harold in a fight. Milo tells Wayne that he has to pay $40,000 to give Glory her freedom. Glory rejects Wayne's attempts to buy her freedom, as she feels it represents her accepting being owned. As she walks down the street, Milo shows up. Wayne did his best to get the money, but falls short by $12,500. With Harold and an arriving Mike looking on, Wayne stands up to Milo himself, and after impulsively drawing his gun, ends up brawling with Milo in the street. Glory intervenes, suspecting that Milo might kill Wayne. Seeing that the two are in love with each other, Milo concedes and makes peace with Wayne and lets Glory go with no strings attached.


Cast

*
Robert De Niro Robert Anthony De Niro Jr. ( , ; born August 17, 1943) is an American actor. Known for his collaborations with Martin Scorsese, he is considered to be one of the best actors of his generation. De Niro is the recipient of various accolades ...
as Wayne 'Mad Dog' Dobie *
Uma Thurman Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress and former model. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 an ...
as Glory *
Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nig ...
as Frank Milo *
David Caruso David Stephen Caruso (born January 7, 1956) is a retired American actor and producer, best known for his roles as Detective John Kelly on the ABC crime drama ''NYPD Blue'' (1993–94) and Lieutenant Horatio Caine on the CBS series '' CSI: M ...
as Mike * Mike Starr as Harold *
Tom Towles Tom Towles (March 20, 1950 – April 2, 2015) was an American character actor of film, theatre, and television, known for his portraying villains and intimidating supporting characters. His breakthrough role as Otis in '' Henry: Portrait of a Ser ...
as Andrew the Beater *
Kathy Baker } Katherine Whitton Baker (born June 8, 1950) is an American actress. Baker began her career in theater and made her screen debut in the 1983 drama film '' The Right Stuff''. She received the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Suppo ...
as Lee * Derek Anunciation as Shooter Other small appearances include J. J. Johnston as Shanlon, Jack Wallace as Tommy, comedian
Richard Belzer Richard Jay Belzer (born August 4, 1944) is a retired American actor, stand-up comedian, and author. He is best known for his role as BPD Detective, NYPD Detective/Sergeant, and DA Investigator John Munch, whom he has portrayed as a regular cast ...
as M.C. / Comic, and the film's screenwriter
Richard Price Richard Price (23 February 1723 – 19 April 1791) was a British moral philosopher, Nonconformist minister and mathematician. He was also a political reformer, pamphleteer, active in radical, republican, and liberal causes such as the Fren ...
as the Detective in Restaurant.


Production

According to a profile of producer Steven A. Jones written by
Luke Ford Luke Ford (born 26 March 1981) is a Canadian-Australian actor. His career began in television in 2000 and his first film role was in 2006 before being cast in '' The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor'' in 2008. Ford's regular television roles ...
, 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 Wayne fight, Milo dominates Wayne. Wayne'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 In film, television, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character, one or more particular roles, or characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ...
of De Niro, whom they saw as the ''
Raging Bull ''Raging Bull'' is a 1980 American Biographical film, biographical Sports film, sports Drama (film and television), drama film directed by Martin Scorsese, produced by Robert Chartoff and Irwin Winkler and adapted by Paul Schrader and Mardik ...
'' he had played more than a decade earlier. Those who saw the test screenings could not accept the fact that De Niro's Wayne had done so poorly against Murray's Milo. Other reshoots for the film were done to make Glory seem less manipulative and Milo more of a puppet-master behind Glory's actions.


Reception

Review aggregation website
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
reported 77% of 31 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The site's critics consensus states: "Inspired casting and a prevailing sweetness make ''Mad Dog and Glory'' an oddball treat." On
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
the film has a weighted average score of 71 out of 100, based on 19 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data. Background Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade C+ on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
, writing for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'', gave the film 3.5 out of 4 stars, saying, "The movie is very funny, but it's not broad humor, it's humor born of personality quirks and the style of the performances." He went on to add that the film is "the kind of movie I like to see more than once. The people who made it must have come to know the characters very well, because although they seem to fit into broad outlines, they are real individuals—quirky, bothered, worried, bemused."
Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...
of ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' also gave the film a positive review, calling it "a first-rate star vehicle for the big, explosive talents of Mr. De Niro, Mr. Murray and Richard Price, who wrote the screenplay." Expanding on the performances, Canby said, "The great satisfaction of ''Mad Dog and Glory'' is watching Mr. De Niro and Mr. Murray play against type with such invigorating ease."
Todd McCarthy Todd McCarthy (born February 16, 1950) is an American film critic and author. He wrote for ''Variety'' for 31 years as its chief film critic until 2010. In October of that year, he joined ''The Hollywood Reporter'', where he subsequently served ...
of ''
Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film) ...
'' called the film "A pleasurably offbeat picture that manages the rare trick of being both charming and edgy". The film grossed $10.7 million in the United States and Canada and $13 million internationally for a worldwide total of $23.7 million.


References


External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mad Dog And Glory 1990s romantic comedy-drama films 1990s crime comedy-drama films 1993 films American crime comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by John McNaughton Films set in Chicago Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films shot in Chicago Films with screenplays by Richard Price (writer) Fictional portrayals of the Chicago Police Department Fictional trios Mafia comedy films Universal Pictures films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films