Writer-director Paul Shrader makes the transition from Taxi Driver (the script which made his name) to the Tarantino era with this violent sleaze-fest of Cleveland crime which is to political correctness what McDonalds is to the Fat Duck.
Based on a novel by the late Edward Bunker (who played Mr Blue in Reservoir Dogs), Dog Eat Dog delivers some great dialogue but its greatest (guilty) pleasure is the platform it provides for two remarkable actors to chew the scenery: Nicolas Cage, so often wasted these days, who goes out with a bang and a Bogart impersonation; and Willem Dafoe as the aptly named Mad Dog who “just wants to be loved unconditionally” but can’t help killing people. Which, come to think of it, pretty much sums up the movie.
Showing: Odeon Leicester Square, 14:30
For more information, visit bfi.org.uk/lff
BFI London: Must-see movies
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