Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987)

[barrydworkin 1]

Hey, I was wondering if you've ever seen the movie Tough Guys Don't Dance. Unlike a lot of the recommendations you get, this has a pretty nice pedigree. It was executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola, it's starring Ryan O'Neal, Isabella Rossellini and Lawrence Tierney and it's directed by Norman Mailer adapting his own best selling book, but it's a huge mess. It's probably most famous for this:

, but the whole thing is pretty baffling. Unfortunately, it's 110 minutes long which is generally longer than most bad movies are tolerable for, but I think Tough Guys Don't Dance remains an interesting enough failure to be worth it. Also, Penn Jillette in 1987 plays a priest in it.

[SlidePocket 707]

This helped the end of Ryan O'Neal's leading man career, with the scene being, of course, him saying "oh god, oh man" over and over again!

[CarloVanstiphout 34]

Watched this today, oh man oh god indeed. This needs to be covered just so Blake Harris gets an excuse to start doing some digging on this baffling production.

 

Imagine Tommy Wiseau wrote a spec script for Twin Peaks, someone only cleaned up the language to sound like actual English, but changed nothing else; then Golan & Globus got like, Vampire's Kiss Nic Cage to be an acting coach; and finally put everyone on a strict diet of cocaine. I'm 100% convinced that every ounce shown in the movie is the real deal, and NONE of it went to waste. Everyone in this movie is certifiable, and the grandiose garbage that comes out of their mouths is mind boggling. Not even kidding when I say Wings Hauser is the most nuanced part of this ludicrous equation. Well, he does slur the words "I made you come 16 times in one night" after he just had a stroke, but still.

[chaplinatemyshoe 46]

Bumping this recommendation. This movie is amazing. It's Southern Gothic transported to the northeast by way of kinda gross swingers.

[thepantweaver 0]

This has some of the wildest dialogue in the world. This one definitely needs to be boosted.