Mad Dog Time

A modern metaphor for heaven, based around a single concept : "What if god was a gangster?". Directed by the son of the legendary Joey Bishop, Larry B has done an outstanding job with an outstanding cast.

Vic (Richard Dreyfuss), absent gang boss of a mythical copless city is getting out of the loony bin. His chief lieutenants (Gabriel Byrne & Jeff Goldblum) are busy vying for power in his absence, and his rivals (Kyle MacLachlan, Burt Reynolds & Gregory Hines) are busy trying to take over the entire city.

Where is the metaphor I hear you ask? Let me start you off, Dreyfuss is god..

If you are used to seeing Gabriel Byrne in serious roles such as Tom in Millers Crossing or Keaton in The Usual Suspects I recommend you take a look at this film. Even if you are not a fan of Gabriel Byrne in particular, all the actors in this film give really great performances. If you've got about eleven bucks (that is close to nine quid) I say order it online, or rent it from you favorite movie rental place. Guaranteed to make you laugh, whether or not you normally like gangster type movies. Mad Dog Time/Trigger Happy is one of those movies you never forget, and find yourself watching over and over. You will talk about it so much your friends will be begging to borrow it.

I love this movie. It's wacky, funny, violent, surreal, played out in a madman's head, and definitely not your usual comedy.

If you don't find the film amusing then I guess it's just not for your tastes, so this is a tough one to write a review for.

For reference, some other comedies I love are The Big Lebowski, The Princess Bride, and Zoolander (that one only got me the second time around). There are others, but my taste is definitely for the unusual, and I am willing to accept that most people just don't tend to like that kind of thing. I make no apologies for having an unusual sense of humour - at least I have one.

The scenes and characters of this particular movie are well put together, the verbal humour is hilarious, the situations are intriguing, the acting is very good (as you would expect of the cast), though the acting demands made of the cast by the script are not particularly high. The overall package makes for fun, funny, watchable yet violent entertainment.

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.

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 -> God

Grace ->The grace of God

Rita, 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 -> God

D*mn time.

Don't be so hard on this movie until you watch it for what it really is.