Dog Eat Dog

This is an indie production with a few big names but not a real good story. The actors play their roles well and it's also shot in an acceptable way but I was missing something of a point in this movie. Dafoe plays the very evil baddie and it seems like they wrote half of Cage life in this with all the Elvis,Humphrey Bogart and 50's references thru out. I think that even at the end of the movie he does a sort of Bogart impression and I could not tell if that was serious or not. Some of the scenes were nice on their own but as a whole the movie lacks substance and therefor falls flat. It's really a one time watch movie more so if you like Willem Dafoe or Nicolas Cage. I was hoping for a bit of a comeback for Cage with this one but after seeing this I'm guessing that will never happen. If your an indie fan i think you'll like it but if your more like me wanting a plot or some surprises in these type of movies you might wanna give this one a pass. What ever you choose... Enjoy!

Wow! Huh? Really? This movie is bad. I mean this thing is so bad on so many levels. Everything about this movie is bad. Compared to other movies I think are bad, "Dog Eat Dog" is so much worse. To think this is based on a book? Well, I guarantee you I will never read the book. This has such a bad storyline, why did all this talent sign on? I mean, I like Nicolas Cage, except for his performance in, 'Dog Eat Dog.' Normally I like William Defoe and Christopher Mathew Cook…with the exceptions of their characters in 'Dog Eat Dog.' As far as the rest of the cast go I am not familiar with them…and quite honestly…I am very glad. 'Dog Eat Dog' can never be unseen. This is one of those flicks that fledgling actors sign on to end their careers.

Three criminal escapees conspire several plans to make that big heist, financed by a mob boss, cavorting with prostitutes they meet in various strip clubs, where each and every one of these misadventures begin and end. With nothing to lose except their freedom, the dreaded three-strikes law drives them forward for a chance to live it up on the outside for life, instead of the inside, if only they succeed. No other option available, otherwise go out the improperly termed, so-called "samurai style".* Basically, to do or die trying, in this case. The neurotic, psychotic three stooges: There's Troy {Moe}, a nervous, almost Elvis meets Scarface character with a Humphrey Bogart fixation, who is the 'mastermind' of the operation, for what it's worth; "Mad Dog" {Larry} who resembles Metalokalypse's Murderface, a scrawny, former fish-gutting cannery worker turned murderer of a voluptuous girlfriend and daughter, who talks way too much for his own good, as well as being too inappropriately needy; & "Diesel" {Curly}, an absent minded, big bald lug who ultimately proves to be the broken link in the handcuff chain. After receiving some veritable, and literal street justice by two rampaging officers, the series of calamity capers concludes with a convoluted dream-like sequence attended by the three, whose entire escapade seems more a twisted experiment by an amused kingpin, rather than a benefactor. From mostly stints in Kidnapping while masquerading as cops, to abduct some inner city hood for drug money, to snatch a rival gangster's infant, they plod forth by trial and error, fueled by narcotics and liquor, and an amorphous notion of some proposed lifestyle above the law. Overall, the film's plot is not so much the title phrase "dog eat dog" as predictable keystone criminals, who are ultimately second- rate thugs brutalizing their way to the grave. ∞

A common theme in Paul Schrader's movies is a person on a self-destructive path. Well, with "Dog Eat Dog", Nicolas Cage's career continues to self-destruct. He had a few good movies in the late '90s, but then starred in a series of paycheck movies (the outlier is "Snowden"). "Dog Eat Dog" is very unlike the rest of Schrader's movies. This story of some gangsters hired to kidnap the daughter of a rival gangster is not like Quentin Tarantino's movies, which are homages to exploitation flicks. This one comes across as more of an excuse for violence. It's not the worst movie ever made, but probably Willem Dafoe's worst movie ever. As for Cage, he probably should've quit while he was ahead.