Overrated

Good start, but then it gets ruined

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Robert de Niro is a sad and lonely cop. He has got a heart of gold, but no love in his life. Will he find love? That's the story. Produced by Martin Scorsese, one of de Niro's long time companions, this flick is totally unlike any other Martin Scorsese picture. It is really an incredibly funny plot. Some romance. Some violence. Some defeat and loneliness. But also a glorious victory. Hence the title: Mad Dog and Glory. It is basically a simple lovestory with a comedy mob plot mixed into it. Uma Thurman plays a girl in debt to the mob guy Bill Murray. These 2 characters stumble into de Niro's life by accident and then fireworks start going off. It is really the very best in acting of these 3 actors. Hard to imagine Robert de Niro playing an introvert cop? Wait until you see him sitting on his couch with his striped shirt humming to Louis Prima songs, drinking away his solitude. He plays his character so well that I easily forget all the tough characters he has played in the past. His role as the shy and lonesome cop is acted so brilliantly, that I just adore this picture for the incredible acting performance alone! It is a comedy, but de Niro plays the serious part, although his clumsiness is hilarious at times. I know I know, you must be thinking that cant be fun, watching de Niro act as a looser, but it is. It really is amusing to see how he stumbles, how he worries, how he feels so sad and lonely. But he never becomes a stereotype, de Niro plays his role very realistically. I just love his shy but righteous character.If you love de Niro or Bill Murray too, then you just gotta see this precious gem. But it is not a fast, straight comedy. It is a subtle one, slow paced. I have seen it over 10 times now and I keep loving these characters. It is one of my all time favorite de Niro movies, because he is the anti hero, the underdog, the grey and lonely middle class citizen. And he strikes back! He comes to life, gains strength, that much I can give away, because in the end there is a glorious victory. I feel so good after watching it. I really really love "Mad Dog and Glory".

Wayne 'Mad Dog' Dobie (Robert De Niro) is a lonely crime scene investigator with his partner Mike (David Caruso). He likes his neighbor Lee (Kathy Baker) but she is abused by her police boyfriend. One night, he rescues Frank 'The Money Store' Milo (Bill Murray) from being held hostage in a convenience store robbery. Frank turns out to be a mob boss and sends barmaid Glory (Uma Thurman) to be his companion for a week. Frank also sends Harold (Mike Starr) to watch over them.Bill Murray and Robert De Niro are switching roles in this. It's a bit quirky to have Murray as the mob boss while De Niro is the romantic lead. This is a lot light quirky but no big laughs. Uma Thurman is endearing. The relationship is charming. It has some darker tones but it never gets too dark. It's an odd rom-com but it does work on a certain level.

I love the 3 main actors in this movie. Not one of them plays their type-casted styles here.Bill Murray is a deep yet fierce mafia type. He runs a tight racket and has no fear of the law. This is exceedingly out of character for a man who has an entire career of comedy. Even his stand-up in the film is more of an homage to his dark character than an allusion to his comic ability. He does it so well I believe him. Bill Murray actually scares me in this film.Robert De Niro plays a unique role as a cop who ISN'T the hardest thing on the street. My brain almost exploded from the first scene on. He is so lonely and so innocent. He's just a guy living in a sheltered life. That is until Murray takes a shine to him. This is probably the only character De Niro has ever played that I could identify with. I don't fear life the same way he does, but the way he notices all the smallest details, to the point of photographing them.I think this says it all:Frank (Murray): That's life huh? F***ing Wayne, give him a hand, he takes the whole arm huh? Come on Wayne, bring her down.Wayne (De Niro): I love her.Frank: You love her? I OWN HER!Uma Thurman plays a very lost and paranoid woman. Her first few scenes in this film she won't stop shaking. I can hardly believe it's her except she's so damn hot. Her spirit alone makes her lovable. As if there will be a day when she can put on a nice dress and walk on the beach with you.I love this movie. It is reserved to the point of realistic. The supporting actors are deep and become story drivers in their own right, especially David Caruso who plays De Niro's cop friend "No guts, no glory right?" and Mike Starr who plays the world's only non-stereotypical goon "I get paid either way." I think my ultimate appeal is that it gets the anti-hero, anti-journey concept right where so many bad independent films go wrong. It portrays real people with problems who aren't heroes, but will fight as a last resort. It does in a few seconds with a long stare what whole movies do with drawn out musical sequences and angry albeit meaningless conflicts.

Here again, here's a movie I liked the first time and discarded after the second viewing. It just lost its appeal. Part of that appeal was Uma Thurman, who can be awesome-looking at times (and the opposite at other times!). But, add Robert De Niro and Bill Murray and that's quite a threesome.This story is a bit quirky thanks in large to Murray who plays a unique character: a very strange kind of mobster. The story was intriguing the first time but its bad points overwhelmed at me on the second viewing, enough that wouldn't watch this again.What bad points? Well, I didn't like were three things:De Niro with the age-old-only-in Hollywood line "I love you" to Thurman even though he'd only known her for less than two days; a cheap shot against policeman where they show the cop next door as a cowardly wife-beater; and mainly just too much of a nasty meanness to this movie. Afterward, when I saw that Martin Scorcese co-directed and produced this film, that explained my last complaint. Sometimes ("Casino," for example, he overdoes the nasty stuff.)