Dog Eat Dog (2016)

So much average

Good concept, poorly executed.

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

It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Despite his recent track record, Paul Schrader's overall contribution to cinema should not be scoffed at. He was, after all, responsible for penning three great Martin Scorsese movies (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and The Last Temptation of Christ) and one okay one (Bringing Out the Dead), as well as directing the likes of Blue Collar, American Gigolo and Light Sleeper, all interesting movies in their own right. Of recent years, he's been stuck in the straight- to-DVD game, churning out schlock to help raise funds for his own underwhelming personal projects. Teaming up with cinema-dodging king Nicolas Cage for the second time (after 2014's Dying of the Light), Schrader's latest - an incredibly violent and misanthropic crime thriller called Dog Eat Dog - may just be worst thing the once- respectable writer-director has ever put out.Back in 1976, Schrader's script for Taxi Driver immersed us in the seedy and scum-laden underbelly of New York, a part of the world unseen by the majority of us, and demanded that we contemplate this world of our making. With Dog Eat Dog, Schrader seems happy to relax into a cliché-ridden world of motor-mouthed ex-cons, prostitutes in hotel rooms, and the "one last job" that will allow these anti- heroes to escape their life of crime. Cage plays Troy, the brains of the gang fresh out of prison. His friend Mad Dog (Willem Dafoe), has recently committed a double murder and certainly lives up to his nickname. Diesel (Christopher Matthew Cook) is the muscle of the group who, we are told, possesses great intelligence despite his ogreish appearance. They are rounded up by crime boss 'The Greek' (Schrader himself) to pull off a baby kidnapping, a job that could land them a handsome payday.Based on the novel by Eddie Bunker, which I haven't read, Dog Eat Dog feels like it has been thawed out from the 1990s, back when Quentin Tarantino's output was still influencing every low-budget, independent feature. With Cage and Dafoe turning their bonkers shtick up to eleven, it's clear that Schrader intended for this to be a comedy. Are we meant to laugh at a knife murder because the woman is overweight, or at Troy as he threatens to blow a woman's backbone through her belly? Apparently we are, although I can't imagine anybody actually raising a chuckle. Dog Eat Dog is an unpleasant and utterly aimless piece of trash, with scenes connected by a plot so thin that it feels like Schrader's finger is on the random button. There's a brief moment of tension when the gang find themselves in an increasingly hostile neighbourhood, but True Detective already did it with more pizazz 3 years ago. Above all, Dog Eat Dog is painfully boring, and even at just 90 minutes, I found my eyes constantly checking the running time.

The film is inspired by Tarantino. It opens with a killing and "The Whistle Tune" from "Kill Bill." Three guys recently get out of prison. Troy (Nicolas Cage) was the most recent to get out and is the "brains" in the group. Mad Dog (William Dafoe) has psychotic tendencies and only Troy tolerates him as he helped him in prison. Diesel (Christopher Matthew Cook) is the muscle. They are hired to do various crimes for the head of the Cleveland Mafia. They hope to score one last task and go off to Hawaii.The film opened with a lot of promise, but wanes after the first task. It should of had a second task, before the final one which was too predictable. Dafoe gives us a good performance with Cage being the weak link. This wasn't his film. I thought the ending was anti-climatic.Guide: F-word, sex, stripper nudity

Paul Schrader is no art-house lightweight. His contributions to film history are mighty. Taxi Driver and Raging Bull should be enough proof. It gives me no pleasure to say that Dog Eat Dog is one of the most reprehensible films I've ever seen. A dark, ugly, rotten film to it's core. Nothing more than a psychopathic fever dream Schrader must of had one night. I hated these three characters. Nicholas Cage plays a wannabe Humphrey Bogart. That sounds hilarious on paper. The problem is, he plays it really uncomfortably straight and without a shred of irony. William Dafoe plays one of the most loathsome human beings you'll ever encounter. He opens up the film killing a single mom and her little girl. The scene is almost played up for laughs. It's being sick for sick's sake.

Normally a Nicholas Cage movie is worth a look. I clicked on this through Netflix and got quite a surprise - this movie totally sucked! I gave it about an hour to get interesting, which it never did - so it got canned.The whole movie seems like a mere child running around with a camcorder, sneaking around recording people. Really quite lame.