Bloodhounds of Broadway Reviews

For fans of the old films based on the characters created by Damon Runyon this attempt to re-create four Runyon stories is almost sure to be a major disappointment. Rather than presenting a single story, the film weaves together four subplots, including a tale involving a nightclub singer (Madonna) and a down-on-his-luck gambler (Randy Quaid); this is the film's most accomplished segment, mainly because of the fine performances of Madonna and Quaid. In another subplot, a socialite's (Julie Hagerty) party spirit is dampened by the arbitrary shooting of her pet parrot by a swarthy thug. The third story give us another unlucky gambler (Matt Dillon), who becomes a murder suspect though he remains preoccupied with Lovey Lou (Jennifer Grey). And finally, the least interesting of the quartet involves "The Brain" (Rutger Hauer), who is stabbed during the opening reel and whisked all over town by cronies who try to find someone to save his life. Judged as a cinematic interpretation of Runyon, BLOODHOUNDS OF BROADWAY comes up wanting. But if one evaluates it strictly as a 1980s look at "the way we were" in New York in 1928, the film fares better, though it still leaves much to be desired.