Dog Eat Dog (2016)
***No real spoilers***
This film had slipped by without me noticing, and I was very pleased to be introduced to it via the great blog of my friend, John Rieber. https://johnrieber.com/
Starring William Dafoe and Nicholas cage, directed by Paul Schrader, it had to be worth a look, surely? And it was based on a book by Edward Bunker, the former prison inmate and author who played Mr Blue, in ‘Reservoir Dogs’. I was thinking of getting the DVD, when the film suddenly appeared on a film channel listing. So I got to watch it for free!
This film sets out its stall from the first frame. In less than the first eight minutes of running time, we see lots of swearing, drug use and abuse, and two very violent murders of a mother, and her teenage daughter. It continues with more violence, some sex scenes, lap dancers, prostitutes, and more drug use. In case you relax for a moment, there are plenty more shootings and murders arriving like trains at a busy station. Then some more sex, followed by some disposal of bodies, and the kidnap of a baby. By the halfway point, I felt exhausted, and I was only sitting on my sofa watching it.
For a change, it is not Nicholas Cage who plays the unstable, drug addicted, ultra-violent criminal. That job goes to Willem Dafoe, who seizes it with both hands, and runs with it. He is very convincing too. When you discover that his gang name is ‘Mad Dog’, you need no explanation why. Cage is the cooler criminal, Troy. The sharp-suited fixer who arranges the jobs, and does the talking with the Mob. But he is equally unstable, if provoked. And he is often provoked. Troy is also obsessed with Humphrey Bogart, and narrates the story at times, noir-style. The third member of the crew is Diesel, played by Christopher Cook. He is a solid wall of a man who looks like the Incredible Hulk, but without the green skin. He makes no friends, and doesn’t tolerate fools easily.
They do dirty jobs for the big bosses of Organised Crime. Collect from debtors, beat people senseless, even kill them if necessary. They hang out in lap-dancing bars, strip clubs and hotels; drinking too much, and doing drugs, as well as any woman they can afford to pay for. But in a familiar theme, they long for that ‘big score’, enough money to split town (Cleveland) and head for Hawaii. When they are offered just that, by the Mob fixer El Greco, they cannot resist.
So, we have extreme violence, some sex scenes, murders, drug abuse, prostitutes, and a gang with no conscience. The film has the moody atmosphere that is the trademark of a Schrader film, and the plot of one from the mind of Quentin Tarantino. The cast is top drawer too. Is it any good?
Well of course it is.
It doesn’t ask us to sympathise with the criminals, and doesn’t try to give reasons or excuses why they have chosen a life of crime. It makes no apologies for showing the raw and seedy side of life, and pulls no punches about what it looks like when someone is stabbed multiple times, or shot in the face with a double-barrelled shotgun. It has no villains, as everyone is one. And there are no heroes either. The film is sold as a ‘black comedy’, but despite Dafoe sometimes going over the top deliberately, I didn’t find it funny at all. Just an old-fashioned crime thriller, with adult themes, and a cast that believed their roles totally.
But the ending is very strange, and I could have done without that.
Thanks for sharing a wonderful review. This one sounds wild.😯
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Worth a watch, Dani. If you don’t mind the violence! 🙂
(You must be up really late. It’s 10 am here!)
Best wishes, Pete. xx
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I have been having sleeping problems with how sick I have been. 😞 I mean I am a night owl though so I don’t go to sleep until late night early morning
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I can only hope you get better soon, dear Dani. 🙂 x
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Thanks, my friend!😁 I will be okay.😊 I will have to send you an email!
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I remember it from John’s Nix Cage post and your review only increases my interest. The people involved alone are enough to warrant that.
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Thinking about it more since this review, if it had been released as a ‘Quentin Tarantino’ film, I think it would have been a big hit, Lloyd. It has flashes of brilliance, but then you would expect that from Schrader I suppose.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Very much so, still talk about a scene in American Gigolo.
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I’m going to give this a look, Pete. I generally like Paul Schrader films. If this one is half as good as Hardcore, Light Sleeper and Affliction–especially Affliction–I’ll be happy. Don’t know how this one got by me. Thanks.
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It’s not in the same league as those, but does feel very Schrader.
Except when it feels more like Tarantino. 🙂
Thanks, Pam.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Why is it that so many films are compromised by the ending? I guess every film can’t be “Thelma & Louise.”
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Some people might find the allegorical ending satisfying, David. Not me though. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Excellent review, Pete. This looks wild.
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Cheers mate. It is very ‘Tarantino-esque’. I think you will enjoy it.
Sony Movie Channel, Freeview 32. Going the rounds there.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Thanks for the heads up.
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I am struck by “You Might Like” at the end of the email notification and after the trailer. Interesting that those three words were not at the end of your actual post. 🙂
Warmest regards, Theo
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Thanks, Theo. I reckon anyone who likes Tarantino films ‘might like’ this one too. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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Pete, thanks for the shout out – anything with these two guys and Director Paul Schrader is worth a look – not wholly successful, but a “Reservoir Dogs”-meets-“Snatch” vibe worth trying if these kinds of films interest you…
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Summed up nicely, John. Thanks for introducing me to the film. I enjoyed it a lot more than I ever expected to.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Excellent review and I will have to see it just to find out what the very strange ending is all about!
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As for that ending, if you ‘get it’, let me know, FR. 🙂
I have my own theory about what the film-maker was trying to say, but it wasn’t necessary at all.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Cage movies are either good or truly bad….I ususally stir clear of a Cage movie….but your review is excellent and gives me something to consider
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Thanks, chuq. Cage is pretty much ‘Cage’, as usual. But Dafoe’s crazy character, and Cook’s no-nonsense hoodlum more than make up for that.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Dafoe is always unique actor…..chuq
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Thanks for an honest, well-outlined review, Pete. Maybe you can teach some of the critics in our newspapers.
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That’s very kind, GP. I just like to tell it as I see it! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I’ll keep an eye out for it, although its sounds like its definitely one for when everyone else has gone to bed 🙂
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Not for ‘Family Viewing ‘ mate! 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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I missed this one as well. Having just watched the trailer it does like a totally over the top, totally insane, but still very fun film. It’s interesting to learn that in this one Cage isn’t the crazy one (which he usually is 😂😂). Well, guess I’ll see if I can watch this one at some point. Great post as always! 😊
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Thanks, Michel. The trailer does give the flavour of the film indeed. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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