Some people are connoisseurs of bad films. I’m not quite at that level. I do, however, enjoy seeing just how bad certain movies are. Especially when it comes to major motion pictures. A bad independent movie is understandable. A group of people makes a film, it doesn’t turn out great, but that’s that. When it’s a major studio release, though, it means so much more to be awful. It means people had to sign off on this thing. They all had to look at it and say, “Yeah, this is good! We need to put this into theaters!” It makes you wonder how a movie like Mad Dog Time went through this process and still got released. Because it truly ranks up there as a contender for the worst movie ever.
A Confusing Film With a Baffling Cast
There is almost nothing about Mad Dog Time that makes any sense in terms of a story, let alone why someone would want to make it. If there was a way to boil down the premise, I’d have to say it’s about a nightclub with a bunch of gangsters. Their leader is a guy named Vic who has recently been in a psych ward. But Vic is coming out, and it seems like a power struggle is brewing. Why though? What’s so important about this club and this organization? Why are the stakes so high that a lot of people get introduced and killed?
And oh boy, are there a lot of people getting introduced and killed here. The cast is on a new level of weirdness. Jeff Goldblum is our main star playing the character of Mickey Holliday. Gabriel Byrne co-stars as Ben London. Ben’s running the nightclub for the aforementioned Vic, who’s played by Richard Dreyfuss. But then you’ve got Rat Pack member Joey Bishop in here. His son Larry Bishop is the writer, director, and co-star in this mess. There are cameos from Gregory Hines, Billy Idol, Kyle MacLachlan, Burt Reynolds, Ellen Barkin, and Diane Lane… It’s a crazy list of people. Even crazier considering we’re again talking about something that could be the worst movie ever.
What Happens Next?
The film is worth seeing just to find out who’s going to pop up next and in what capacity. There’s also a scene where Paul Anka keeps getting interrupted while singing “My Way” by Byrne. That alone is worth the price of admission. It’s a little surreal trying to see Goldblum pull off being a rough and tough gangster. Even in his formal wear, he’s still Goldblum being Goldblum. He looks and acts more confused at what’s happening than the audience at points.
Roger Ebert considered the title to be potentially the worst movie ever. Or at least ranking amongst them. He famously tore this movie a new asshole in his review. “Mad Dog Time is the first movie I have seen that does not improve on the sight of a blank screen viewed for the same length of time. Oh, I’ve seen bad movies before. But they usually made me care about how bad they were. Watching Mad Dog Time is like waiting for the bus in a city where you’re not sure they have a bus line.” Oh, and he gave the film 0 out of 4 stars
Ebert Was Right & Wrong
Ebert wasn’t exactly accurate in this review, though. Yes, this film is horribly bad. From an aesthetic and storytelling level, this is an atrocity of a movie. Worst movie ever status, confirmed. But, to be fair, it’s not unentertaining. It’s just not entertaining in the way that it should be. You don’t watch Mad Dog Time to see what it offers as a film. You watch to see how bad this film truly can be. It’s not boring in that way. It’s a captivating watch because it’s so staggeringly awful.
So if you find yourself bored one day and you come across Mad Dog Time on a streaming platform, watch it. Gawk at it. Marvel at the fact that this movie actually got made. How many times can you watch something that could be the worst movie ever for the first time? Dive in and enjoy because there is no movie you’ll see that is quite so bizarrely fascinating.
