Review of Dog Eat Dog (2016) by Jeff J — 27 May 2017

SO great up until the last ten minutes of the movie. I really thought the first half of this film was absolutely the greatest piece of filmmaking I have ever seen, but then the second half became another bad Nicolas Cage film.

Willem Dafoe absolutely gives the best performance of his career in this film. He is just off the charts with his striking and very real performance as one of Nicholas Cage's ex-con buddies, who is just absolutely crazy on all levels with his insane drug use and very explicit violence.

The first ten minutes of the film are gonna shock like no other, as I have never seen what was depicted within those ten minutes on screen as I was watching it. SHOCKED is the key word here. It may draw some viewers away immediately because it really is too much to watch in the given moment, especially since it's in the very beginning of the film.

BUT! I loved it! I give SO much credit to both Paul Schrader and Willem Dafoe for having the guts to go there the way they did in that scene, because you are honestly hoping so much on the inside that you don't see what Dafoe does in the first ten minutes of the film.

But I thought it was extremely a bold piece of filmmaking, so my hat is off to those two gentlemen. Dafoe who I really cannot say enough about because he's just so damn awesome in the film and his comic relief is just effortless! As crazy as his character is in the movie, I surprisingly found myself laughing out loud to A LOT to what he was doing and saying in the film.

God I wish this movie turned out great because if it did I would DEFINITELY say that Dafoe would EASILY! And I do mean easily would have walked away with a Best Supporting Actor nomination and possibly a win! But like I said, the first half was great, but then it slows down in the second half and then once Dafoe is out of the picture.

..it sucks! Big time! It makes me wonder where was Paul Schrader's mind frame when he filmed the last ten minutes? What was he going for? It's like he was having a bit of a 1930's detective spoof at the end with Nicholas Cage, it just didn't add up or go with the flow of the film at all! But I will say the film is filmed absolutely gorgeously in certain scenes.

When you watch it, your kind of rooting for the movie itself to succeed. But that all depends on how the viewer, like I said, handles the first ten minutes of the film. It's from there on the viewer must decide for himself if this is the type of movie he or she wants to sit through.

Other than that, the film ends up being what it is, but I just feel SO bad for Willem Dafoe because he's SO great and awesome in his performance, that's it's gonna go down unnoticed for the most part because of the way the film ends.

The movie really does show that you are not dealing with good guys here, I mean, after all, they are ex-cons and Paul Schrader does a great job at not shying away from these men in the film. So on a light note, if you're interested in the movie after what I just wrote here, then please go see "Dog Eat Dog," ATLEAST for Willem Dafoe because he truly steals the spotlight from everyone and the entire movie.

I will say it was great seeing Willem Dafoe as brilliant as he was in the film because I haven't seen much of him over the years, with all the small movies he does, but this for me, in many ways, was a welcome back to the actor that I grew up watching in "Platoon.

" And why growing up Willem Dafoe was and now is again one of my favorite actors in the movies.