Dangerous Game


 * Frank Burns (James Russo) points a gun at Sarah Jennings (Madonna). Flash cut to Frank walking out of the room. Fade to end credits

Todd: What the hell did I just watch?

Cinemadonna intro

Todd: Ho boy. So...


 * Clip of trailer

Todd (VO): ...in 1992, Madonna started her own film production company. You might think she'd use in to finance more self-aggrandizing star vehicles like she'd been making, but that's not what happened. The first movie she made was actually a dark, very un-commercial movie by a legendary indie movie. [Brief clip from The Driller Killer] Yeah, that guy. This man is Abel Ferrara, a director who [clip of trailers from Ms. 45] started out making exploitation films and slowly developed a more serious reputation as he started mixing gritty violence. [Trailer clips of...] At the time, he was on a hot streak after making his two most popular films: King of New York starring Christopher Walken, and Bad Lieutenant starring Harvey Keitel as a drug-addicted corrupt cop. It's not a comedy, but...

Todd: ...otherwise, yes, it's actually [still shot: "Bad Lieutenant: He's taking the order out of 'law and order'!"] really similar to Bad Santa.

Todd (VO): So by joining up to make another Abel Ferrara movie starring Harvey Keitel, Madonna was putting her money behind one of the most ambitious and most challenging movies she would ever make. This is the movie where she would finally prove that...

Todd: ...she can act!


 * Sarah: All life's misery...shit, what's the line?


 * Clip of interview

Todd (VO): Unfortunately, it turned out Madonna did not like the finished movie at all, and having just released Body of Evidence, Madonna decided she didn't need to bring any more attention to her film career, so as producer, she opted to bury the movie instead of actually promoting it, which was unfortunate for her because she actually got a lot of decent reviews for her performance. [Clip of interview with Ferrara] To this day, Ferrara is angry about it and blames her for it tanking.

Todd: But having now watched it multiple times, I have to say that Ferrara may have overestimated how much potential this movie had. Even on the...

Todd (VO): ...indie circuit, I don't think Dangerous Game would've found an audience. Yes, that's right, folks. It's time to add another flavor to the ever-expanding menu of [cover art] Madonna movie badness. (SELF-INDULGENT PRETENTIOUS CRAP) Look, I tried, man. I gave this movie...

Todd: ...multiple chances. It's just tedious.

Todd (VO): So what's it about? Well, Harvey Keitel stars as a rich millionaire who decides to take Madonna to an island [clip from The Most Dangerous Game] and hunt her for sport because man is the most dangerous game of all!

Todd: I'm kidding. That would actually be interesting.

Transcript in progress