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.

"Mad Dog Time"..."Trigger Happy" whatever you wanna call it...simply doesn't hit the mark. Maybe its just me, maybe i just don't like Gangster comedies ( as i thought Oscar , Johney Dangerously and Mafia also sucked ) It's probably more "witty sharp wordplay" than all out Comedy, only its not as witty and sharp as it ( or the other reviewers )Make it out to be. The Rick , Mick , Vic Thing was old to begin with making it a running gag was at times painful to watch. There wasn't enough Changes of Location or Feel for the period they were supposed to be in. The Majority of the film was either set in "Dreyfus's Club" or a variety of Offices /dim rooms... ( what was with that Sit down Gun stand off thing Goldblum kept winning ?) The supporting cast was... on Paper excellent ( great to see Silva & Drago)but characters were killed off before they had time to develop. and Richard Pryors cameo was a Joke ! The Romance and Love element of the film also bogged it down.4/10 I don't think i'll return to it anytime soon.

I originally saw this very dark comedy around 2000 or so on cable TV. What a surprise and delight! Everyone is covertly armed in this movie! Dreyfuss plays the "mental" don (remember the New York don who was supposed to be schizophrenic? Art imitates life or vice-versa?). Diane Lane and Ellen Barkin are at their most beautiful and NOT to be toyed with! Thus proving that beauty and toughness DO go together! Then there is the great "bullshit" scene between Barkin and Jeff Goldblum (Rita and Mickey) where they verbally play off the world "bullshit." This film is both subtle and bald. For all the shooting, it can be a very quiet film. And, you have the opportunity to see several actors in their final or near final roles. Joey Bishop. Richard Pryor. Henry Silva. It is not a film for everyone. But, if you like a film that has a lot of word play and keeps moving without blowing up everything in sight, this is the film for you. Roger Ebert dumps on this film. He's flat wrong. THIS is a fine, fine film! Maybe just not one for Ebert. I consider it as a 10 because of how well it is done and how funny the script can be, while not really being a straight comedy kind of film. I like it so well that I bought it on DVD because it just doesn't get shown very much on cable TV. Now, it's all mine!

This movie is an allegory. Formally, an allegory is a representation of abstract ideas by elements in narrative, dramatic, or pictorial form; in this case, the screenplay, the set design, and especially the actors are the elements by which the abstract is portrayed.If you look for cool narrative structure and are familiar with, well, the Bible, you'll probably enjoy this tongue-in-cheek view of why "heaven is such a mess."I'll just describe the characters: have fun with the rest of the analysis.Vic -> GodGrace ->The grace of GodRita, Grace's sister -> Justice (akin to God's grace is God's justice, and Rita means right)Nick Falco -> Lucifer (Old Nick is a synonym for the devil, and don't forget the imposter). His philosophy was "to hell with every God d*mn thing".Mickey -> the archangel Michael (Nick sees him as weak)Gabriella -> the archangel Gabriel (just hangin' out until it's time to blow the horn)Wacky Jacky Jackson -> chaos, which seeks to dismantle God's world ("I don't give a f*ck")Mr. Gottlieb -> When you die, you will be in the hands of Gott Lieb--God's Love-- represented by an undertaker.Ben London -> Man (ballsy, but rather slow and full of himself)Finally, the title itself is a play on words itself: Mad Dog Time -> GodD*mn time. Don't be so hard on this movie until you watch it for what it really is.