Synopsis: Meek detective falls in love with gangster's moll
Director: John McNaughton
Actors: Robert de Niro, Bill Murray, Uma Thurman
Date: 1993
How viewed: Lovefilm rental
Rating: 2/5
David Meyer says:
A whimsical, violent mixture of love story, crime story and comedy.
I say:
This is a film that fails spectacularly on all levels! It concerns a meek detective (or scene of crimes investigator? or police photographer?) who accidentally saves the life of a local gangster, who in turn tries to befriend him and gifts him a girl for a week as a thank you present. Detective falls in love with girl, gangster wants her back, culminating in stand-off, and eventual happy ending. So, let's see, the title is annoying as you expect a Arnold Schwarzenegger vehicle (the detective is ironically called 'Mad Dog' due to his avoidance of all confrontational situations), Robert de Niro doesn't do timid, Bill Murray doesn't do psychotic, though against my better judgement I have to say Uma Thurman is passable! The film could have been pitched much lighter (sort of 'Irma la Douce', but then you'd have needed the equivalent of Billy Wilder and Jack Lemmon), or much heavier (but you'd have needed David Lynch and Dennis Hopper), but is actually just a mess. Even the publicity photo (above), is misleading - who looks like the timid detective, and who the gangster??? 
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