not horrible nor great

What a freaking movie. So many twists and turns. Absolutely intense from start to finish.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Larry Bishop's Mad Dog Time is a perpetually strange, endearing little pseudo gangster flick with a lot of sass, style and an endless cast that will glue your jaw to the floor. Seriously, there's so many familiar faces and big names in hidden nugget cameos that one starts to lose track. It takes place in a far corner of a different universe, populated by Rat Pack esque mobsters and gorgeous dames. All they do the entire movie is plot to kill each other, stage Russian roulette style shooting derbies, shoot each other and basically wreak havoc on one another. There's no outside world, they are completely cut off inside their ornate dining halls, chambers and night clubs. It's interesting and may be too gimmicky for some people, but it's definitely something different. Jeff Goldblum, sly and slick, plays Mickey Holliday, a gangster attempting to take the place of Vic (Richard Dreyfuss), whos about to return from the loony bin. He's also dealing with his volatile girlfriend Rita (Ellen Barkin ramping up the sex appeal and attitude), and locate her missing sister (Diane Lane, briefly). On top of this he's beset on all sides by vicious, power hungry thugs of all sorts, including Wacky Jackson (Burt Reynolds), Jake Parker (Kyle Maclachlan), and mysterious hit man Nick (Larry Bishop). There's a lot going on, and there's not a lot going on depending on how you look at it. It's pretty much all style and barely any substance, but oh what style! Goldblum is pitch perfect, in full dark humored cynicism mode, and Dreyfuss runs around like daffy duck on fire, chewing scenery like a mad goat. The roster of supporting talent includes Billy Idol, Angie Everhart, Billy Dragon, Gregory Hines, Christopher Jones, Henry Silva, Michael J. Pollard, Rob Reiner, Richard Pryor, and a priceless turn from Gabriel Byrne as Ben 'Brass Balls' London, a demented loudmouth who talks his way into hilariously violent situations. His duet of 'My Way' with Paul Anka, also appearing, has to be seen to be believed. Shot in rich velvety reds, with an emphasis on character, violence and a beautiful set design of rampant excessive ambiance, it's sure one you won't forget, whether you like it or not. It's like a love letter to the Cotton Club style, rat pack, Tommy gun madness of yesteryear in film. A treat.

Yes this is one of the best mafia style movies I have ever seen. I did not realize Jeff Goldblum had made a mafia movie until I caught this movie on a movie channel, possibly on my Independent Films Channel not 100% sure on that though. However I give this a 10 out of 10 simply because every big star in this movie was awesome in their roles, especially Goldblum, but R. Dreyfus, H. Silva, B. Reynolds, J. Bishop L. Bishop, G. Hines, G. Byrne and of course the women in this film Barkin, Layne, Everhart were phenomenal as well. This film is in my top five best ever mafia style movies that necessarily didn't over do it with violence and gun shootouts but it seemed to have just enough violence to make it more realistic and true to life. The story line was great as well and I can't express how much I enjoyed this movie and will buy it on DVD soon! I don't understand what is with Hollywood and why they can't produce great movies such as this one. I agree with a prior comment on how little notoriety this movie got and how hard it is to find it playing on TV, makes little sense to me. But as I always say the best movies don't come out of Hollywood but through Independent films sources more often than not.

Dreyfuss plays a mob boss who lost his mind, but now he's "fixed." Lane is his girl who's been messing around with his Number One (Goldblum), who's supposed to have something going with Lane's sister (Barkin).With what anyone could consider an all-star supporting cast (Burt Reynolds, Gabriel Byrne, Kyle MacLachlan and even an appearance by Richard Pryor) can't help this plot, as Dreyfuss proves he's not "fixed" and tries to kill just about everyone in sight.You know, it's not like you didn't know what was coming. The first ten minutes were nothing but guys trying to tell Goldblum what was in store for him when Dreyfuss gets out, but I'll save you all the trouble: skip this movie.The actual reason I picked this movie is because I've been on a Diane Lane kick lately and have been trying to see all her movies. The real let-down for me wasn't just the terrible plot, but also the fact that she doesn't show up until the last fifteen minutes of the movie (although we hear about her all through the movie). Even being a fan of over half of the cast can't help me enjoy this film. The parts where the suspense was supposed to mount found me laughing at what was actually going on.3 out of 10 stars.

Why this film was savaged when it was released is beyond me. It's a comedy for Pete's sake, not Macbeth. I'll admit the structure is a little strange and the characters are quirky to say the least. But it reminds me of Barton Fink in style. Maybe you have to be in a certain mood to really enjoy it. But give it a chance. There's a bit of everything here; Henry Silva doing a great Burt Reynold's laugh right to Burt's face; Ellen Barkin as sexy and nutty as ever; Richard Dreyfuss as the manic mob boss; and last but not least Gabriel Byrne as the flunky who would be king. Maybe I'm mistaken, but I think the critics got this one waaaay wrong. So, watch it and make up your mind.