Mad Dog And Glory (1993)

After a crime scene police photographer (Robert De Niro) saves the life of a minor gangster (Bill Murray) in a convenience store robbery, the thug sends him a girl (Uma Thurman) as a present for a week. Complications arise when they fall in love which is not what the thug intended. Directed by John McNaughton (HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER), this uneven combination of drama and comedy has a certain sweetness to it, particularly in the scenes between De Niro and Thurman. Their love scenes are among the best I've seen, not in the romantic sense or the erotic sense but in their awkward naturalness. De Niro was originally offered the role of the thug but the casting was so obvious that he chose the role of the mild policeman instead and it was a good decision all around. The film can't seem to come up with a suitable conclusion and the "playground bully" finale is rather ridiculous. Though to be fair, the ending was re-shot. The screenplay is by Richard Price (SEA OF LOVE). Elmer Bernstein did the generic underscore. With David Caruso, Mike Starr (very good as Murray's bearish celebrity obsessed right hand man) and Kathy Baker.