Mad Dog and Glory review

A how-to guide to redemption tales, 3/4 stars

Few writers achieve as much with a screenplay as Richard Price did with Mad Dog and Glory (1993). And despite some caving to focus groups here and there, as is Hollywood’s wont, the diamond perfection of this film can hardly be scratched.

Is this the best scene ever committed to film? Maybe:

It’s something of an ensemble, effectively sharing hero duties between three characters, each of whom requires their own form of redemption. Titular hero “Mad Dog” Wayne Dobie suffers from painful shyness; mob boss Frank Milo is dealing with anger and control issues, and “bartender” Glory needs to be free of Milo’s yoke. To effectively weave a plot that delivers satisfying endings to all 3 characters is no easy chore, but Richard Price has, amazingly, done it here.

To be fair, Price and director John McNaughton have help from their actors. Robert DeNiro, Bill Murray, Uma Thurman, and David Caruso all deliver the best performances of their careers. DeNiro does a fantastic beta male, with Caruso and Murray shoving their chests in stark alpha contrast. In the end the beta must triumph, but a rising tide lifts all boats and Murray, too, is redeemed.

I suspect the film’s awkward title prevented it from box office success, because it is a rare gem of a feel-good movie that isn’t cheesy or over-reliant on sentimental tropes.

But what is a “feel good” movie? Attempt at a two-part answer below:

First, it’s set in a fantasy world in which even the villain should be lovable - a wholly benevolent construct. Yes, there are mobsters in the Mad Dog and Glory universe, and Bill Murray’s Frank Milo literally enslaves women, but he is working hard on self-improvement, not to mention failing amusingly at standup comedy for further humanization. Broad, larger than life, even cartoonish, characters predominate.

Second, a feel-good movie should be a redemption tale and love story in one - redemption achieved through love. The introverted “Mad Dog” must, for once in his life, take on the bad guy and maybe suffer an ass kicking, because what is love worth without action?

I guess that the reason most feel-good films fail is: lack of a compelling redemption arc. Love, Actually (0/4 stars) may be a popular feel-good film but there is no room for redemption as plot is reduced to many little “slices of life” linked thematically (love), but without room for the sort of character development required for satisfying redemption.

There aren’t a lot of feel-good films in general, as evidenced by lists like this, which shoehorn in seemingly random films (Catch Me If You Can?? 0/4 stars). And yet, none of these (robot-generated Internet litter) lists deign to include Mad Dog and Glory, which is the best feel-good movie ever made.

Doesn’t this make you feel good?:

There are a lot of great movies that move me to tears through various flavors of sadness; yet I can count on one hand the number of films that have moved me to tears of happiness. Mad Dog and Glory is therefore a rare breed worthy of 3 stars.

(I admit I have missed a lot of “feel-good” fare because it’s not worth it to me as an adult male to sift through every shitty RomCom or Disney film in hope of something halfway decent. Yet I do crave those tears of happiness, so please, if you know a way to induce them, comment below with suggestions.)