In and out of prison their entire adult lives, friends and partners Troy (Nicolas Cage), Mad Dog (Willem Dafoe), and Diesel (Christopher Matthew Cook) aim to complete a major final job—the abduction and ransoming of a baby fathered by a gangster deeply in debt—and turn over a new leaf. But, of course, much goes very rapidly and very violently awry. Dog Eat Dog is the new film by iconic writer and director Paul Schrader. He is iconic for writing Martin Scorsese's arguably two most beloved films, Raging Bull and Taxi Driver, and for writing and directing a few films with varying levels of cult popularity, including American Gigolo and Cat People. His recent output, however, is far more problematic, including The Canyons—the self-conscious postmodern embarrassment pairing Lindsay Lohan with a male pornographic actor—and The Dying of the Light, the curious fusion of CIA intrigue and Alzheimer's melodrama he disowned after reported studio interference. Dog Eat Dog is a relative improvement and a fairly entertaining, if inconsequential film...if the viewer can handle the brutal, despicable, drug-fueled, and/or vulgar pools in which Schrader swims as he chronicles a trio of born losers as they gamble, shoot, shout, and snort their way to assured failure and pain. A comparison to Quentin Tarantino or the early British films of Guy Ritchie is not wrong, but this is less polished, more deranged, and, honestly, far less clever. Among the performances, Cage is on point and clearly more invested than in other recent low-budget genre films—a third-act descent into a Humphrey Bogart impersonation recalls the actor at his Vampire's Kiss- or Bad Lieutenant-level of delirium and pomp—but Dafoe steals the film, alternating between pitiful vulnerability and headlong savagery as the central group's most paranoid member.

B

Dog Eat Dog

It's quite weird, and it isn't a coherent weirdness that disguises itself before releasing its genius. It's more experimental. Weird edits, pacing and colour changes, dialogue, sequences etc. But it is not boring, and I enjoyed myself. Cage's Bogart is worth the watch alone.

C+

Dog Eat Dog is an interesting film, it's got some (once) big names involved behind and in front of the camera and we get a bit of a wild and loose about some guys getting involved gangster stuff. The script is quite good and makes me think there could have been more to the film, which I found unevenly directed by Schrader, I can't think of any film that excelled with him at the helm actually. Of the main actors involved, Cage is the one who disappoints the most, he's just average Cage and while the film is a lot better than his recent staple, he's not helping to elevate this higher. For the role of the bald guy I think they could have gotten someone better too, I've never seen him before, but he just doesn't fit in with the pedigree of Cage or Dafoe. Now Dafoe, he gives a good performance, menacing, and each scene with him is what makes the film ultimately worth the watch. It's just too bad, it has little else to offer in any other department. Some of the violence and strip club scenes are cool, but it lacks a certain quality with the way it's all put together.

C+

This was Cage's best bit by far, but his voice over mainly didn't work for me. I like how it ended for him, hmm, I was perhaps a too harsh in my comments about him before. His performance basically just feels on par with the film, a bit better than most of his current works, but still not good. I liked him much more in The Trust.

I downloaded this a few days ago to watch as part of my recent Cage streak. I forgot that I had already seen it - I guess it wasn't that memorable.