Caruso/Woman Beater Confrontation - Mad Dog and Glory (1993) Discussion

[–] OneBadGuy 16 years ago

It's 'cause Caruso is one intimidating motherf---er. Say what you will about the man's acting skills, but the guy can pull off the whole "I'm shorter than you, but I can still kick your ass" thing off perfectly. Watch CSI:Miami (reruns) sometime and you'll see what I mean.

It's a shame God didn't make blueprints. They'd be worth a lot of money now.

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[–] 16 years ago

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[–] bert_12180 16 years ago

He was a pansy in First Blood.

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[–] Vamps76 16 years ago

There are a number of explanations:

1) Men who beat on women are pansies themselves and when they are at the receiving end of a threat, they'll often be reduced to chickensh't.

2) The Caruso character psychologically intimidated the bigger guy into submission without ever throwing one punch.

_______________

"In your face Charlie Murphy"

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[–] captspastic 16 years ago

Agreed.

Plus his character in general, was a very intimating, macho type cop anyway. Even later in the fight seen in the apartment, he definitely stood his again against the mafia guy, that was also much bigger than him.

Ass kicking ability is not always necessarily determined by size.

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[–] stevenackerman69 16 years ago

Maybe it was the way Caruso handled the situation. The Simpson guy realized that if he tried to get tough with Caruso, he'd get his ass kicked.

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[–] corsi71inc 16 years ago

When you truly have no fear, as Caruso had none, then people will fear you. And any man who beats on a woman is a coward & a bully. Nothing shakes cowards and bullys like someone with no fear of them.

1. Being moody.
2. Being bad at maths.
3. Being sad.

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[–] criztu 15 years ago

Can anybody explain why the Big cop who was beating up on deniro's neighbor is afraid to get into a confrontation with Caruso?

when 2 guys are about to fight, there is a series of signals that each one sends to the other, so that unnecesary fighting be avoided, cuz fights can get u with missing teeth. if u can fake the signals of a "guy who stabs people with knife and jail he calls home cuz he's a loco and has nothing to loose cuz he is already ugly" no "guy who goes to gym to look tough cuz he loves to look impressive and intimidating thus being able to avoid fights cuz they leave u with nasty scars and handicaps" will ever oppose you. and cops should in theory become good at reading these sets of signals.

oh, Caruso's char gave the signals of a "guy so good at using the system he will get u jobless in no time, getting big hunks in trouble with papers is his pleasure cuz he crazy"

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[–] you_savvy 15 years ago

When a little guy challenges a big guy as fearlessly as Caruso did here, it's likely because he really knows how to fight. Caruso being a cop made that even more likely. And maybe the big guy also realized that he was in the wrong, what with him being an abusive turd and all, and figured it wasn't worth the headache.

This scene is easily the best thing Caruso's ever done. Not that that's saying much, considering how annoying he usually is.

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[–] inmidair 15 years ago

There's a formula in film and literature that says that bullies will only pick on the defenseless, and when stood up to directly, it turns out that their bark is worse than their bite. Whether or not this is necessarily representative of real life, this is the angle being shown in this movie. It fits with the overall theme that Mad Dog's limitations are entirely in his head, and reality becomes pliable depending on your attitude.

Alternate answer: because Caruso played this role as one bad mofo!

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[–] OneBadGuy 14 years ago

>Alternate answer: because Caruso played this role as one bad mofo!<

Agreed. In fact, this is my favorite Caruso performance. While I still like him, it is undeniable that the man has become a parody of himself these days, forcing his toughness and it just feels fake. Here he does it very naturally and it feels real. If wasn't for this movie, I probably wouldn't like Caruso at all and wouldn't give a damn about Horatio Caine.

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[–] poserpro 11 years ago

From First Blood and An Officer and a Gentelman, to Maddog and Glory to CSI"Miami, Caruso definitely changes my view of his characters and performance.

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[–] gaspyy 11 years ago

I was bullied for a while in HS. The guy was taller and stronger than me.
I was passive, tried to avoid confrontation.

One day he really pissed me off, can't remember why, possibly because I felt embarrassed in front of a girl. So I punched him in the face - right, then left. Quick and as hard as I could, before he had time to react. He started bleeding and I won't ever forget the look on his face: he was stunned and afraid. He backed off and never again bothered me.

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[–] 11 years ago

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[–] DracTarashV 10 years ago

Man, that whole confrontation scene is dynamite. As much as the woman beating a-hole deserved to get his ass kicked, it was completely satisfying to see him get so intimidated by Caruso's character that he just walked away. As for Caruso, the guy was perfect in this role.

Hey there, Johnny Boy, I hope you fry!

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[–] ecarle (14979) 4 years ago

Caruso's performance is great in this movie, in special ways.

He is, literally, "supporting" the bigger star DeNiro, by being a good friend to the character, and enjoying DeNiro's happiness(Caruso's "cool understanding" is palpable when he sees DeNiro singing away to Louis Prima at a murder scene -- "What, you get laid last night?") But Caruso also gets to show how his character is a tougher guy than DeNiro's -- watch how sheepish DeNiro looks as he watches Caruso verbally take down the bully.

But this scene with the bully sets up a later scene. Murray's big henchman Mike Starr witnesses Caruso take down the bully and says to him "I wish you'd try that with me." And lo and behold -- the two men get their moment, near the end, with the great gesture of friendship from Caruso to DeNiro: taking on Starr in a fight that both men have been waiting for.

Caruso thus inspires DeNiro to action, finally: a fistfight with Bill Murray . (SPOILERS...in the first cut of this film, DeNiro loses that fight; in the version we have, DeNiro wins.)

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