Trigger Happy (1996) 93m. Originally released as MAD DOG TIME
Love it or loathe it, writer-producer-director Larry Bishop's debut outing is destined for cult heaven. In summary, story sounds like a run-of-the-mill mob flick: Gangland boss Vic (Richard Dreyfuss) is returning to his nightclub after being released from incarceration. Other would-be mob bosses (Kyle MacLachlan, Burt Reynolds, Gregory Hines, to name a few) wonder how to use this situation to their best advantage. They don't wonder too hard - everyone's solution to problems in this scenario is simply to shoot everyone else dead, which is exactly what transpires, in one measured showdown after another, until the film's conclusion.
The lack of compunction or consequence resulting from this gunplay pushes TRIGGER HAPPY well beyond the fringe of reality, but that's understandable: Vic is being released not from a prison, but an asylum - this story may be taking place entirely within his head. That's one plausible reason, at least, for the over-tanned blemish-free makeup smothering all the characters (Dreyfuss himself is positively pancaked with the stuff) - the inhabitants of Vic's world are as neat and tidy as the precise, bloodless killings within it. Then there's the opening narration about the entrance of a new universe, the references to the Big Bang theory and Vic's conversations with God, and the extreme closeup of Vic's eye in the final frames. Vic, as demented creator of an equally demented world, is ubiquitous throughout the story: other characters talk about him constantly whenever he is absent from a scene. In fact, Dreyfuss doesn't put in an appearance until considerable buildup has elapsed. It's an interesting effect, because despite our warnings that Vic is totally insane, Dreyfuss never actually does anything crazy (no crazier than his contemporaries, anyway). He needs do nothing more than stare benignly and let our imaginations wonder how psychotic he really is. There's almost one moment of revelation during Gabriel Byrne's awful rendition of Vic's signature tune ‘My Way' (What else, for a Creator?), surely the most memorable cinematic representation of that standard since Sid Vicious mangled it in SID AND NANCY. It's an interesting moment because we can't be sure if Byrne is snarling remarks like `You're a paranoid schizophrenic' between the lyrics or whether we are finally seeing/hearing evidence of Vic's delusional psychosis.
The contribution of Byrne, who speaks in an unfathomable accent, is the most comic of the film. He makes a great foil for Vic's hired gun Jeff Goldblum (my favorite performance among his credits so far), whose wry, schoolboyish looks suggest he is concealing some sly prank. He, Dreyfuss, and Byrne form the crown of a cast list that is irresistible, including the likes of Ellen Barkin, Diane Lane, Billy Idol, Rob Reiner, and Paul Anka. Rat Packers Sinatra, Martin, and Davis dominate the soundtrack. The original title, MAD DOG TIME was meant to be an anagram of MAD GOD TIME, highlighting Bishop's intention that his film be seen as an allegory.
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