Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987) [w/Commentary]

Director: Norman Mailer
Writers: Norman Mailer (screenplay by), Robert Towne (uncredited)
Stars: Ryan O'Neal, Isabella Rossellini, Debra Stipe

After a two week bender, Tim Madden awakens one morning from his drunken state, only to discover everything in his life seems amiss. There’s a fresh tattoo on his arm, his car is covered in blood, his girlfriend is in bed with the town sheriff, but worst of all, there's a woman's severed head in his weed stash. Sensing a setup and in desperate need to clear his name, Tim begins an investigation, with the help of his dying father, that soon begins to expose an ever stranger web of corruption, greed, blackmail, and violence woven into every aspect of the small coastal community of Provincetown.

The last feature film directed by Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Norman Mailer, TOUGH GUYS DON’T DANCE is a wild, labyrinthian, neo-noir black comedy starring Ryan O’Neal (Love Story) alongside acclaimed actors Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet), Wings Hauser (Vice Squad), Lawrence Tierney (Reservoir Dogs), and more. Equal parts brutally violent, suspenseful, and blisteringly funny, Vinegar Syndrome is proud to present the long overdue Blu-ray debut of TOUGH GUYS DON’T DANCE, newly restored in 2K from its 35mm interpositive, and featuring revealing new interviews with its cast and crew.



Audio Commentary by Justin Bozung, author of "The Cinema of Norman Mailer: Film is Like Death" (2021)

More in My Blog