`MAD DOG' LITTLE MORE THAN A RABID WASTE OF TIME.

Byline: Bob Strauss Daily News Film Critic

Basically an excuse for a bunch of actors to talk tough and shoot each other, ``Mad Dog Time'' is a stylized, slightly surreal mess that has something to do with gangsters and God.

Writer, director and ensemble player Larry Bishop is not real clear about what the cosmic significance of it all is, but he seems certain that there is some. The son of Rat Pack junior member Joey Bishop, the filmmaker appears equally certain that references to the old Sinatra clique are as entertaining as ad hoc philosophizing and overpumped mob attitude. He's right, too, except it's all about equally, unamusingly tedious.

Set mainly in a couple of art deco nightclubs and cavernous sub-basements in some underpopulated alternative universe, ``Mad Dog Time'' is triggered by the return of Vic (Richard Dreyfuss, who is in this, apparently, because he attended Beverly Hills High with Bishop). The boss of bosses, Vic has been in some otherworldly mental institution, and his lieutenants and rivals have naturally been playing fast and loose in his absence.

Ben London (Gabriel Byrne, talking funny) clearly has enjoyed being godfather pro tem, and though he may defer to Vic, he does so with way too many smart remarks. Hit man Mickey Holliday (Jeff Goldblum, doing his nice, intelligently bemused thing) has stashed Vic's old flame Grace (Diane Lane) somewhere safe and is two-timing both her and her unstable, tarty sister Rita (Ellen Barkin).

As these characters dance around the unpredictable Vic (or is he God?), a bewildering lineup of rivals - Gregory Hines, Kyle MacLachlan, Billy Idol, Billy Drago, Christopher Jones, Burt Reynolds, Bishop - bump each other off. Or else they get bumped off by the disinterested but deadly Holliday (or is he Death?) in highly ritualized, sit-down shootouts. It's all incredibly well-designed and occasionally droll, but much too artificial and talky.

The film's standout sequence involves London improvising a suicidal rendition of ``My Way'' - yes, he even takes the stage away from Paul Anka. Now, if someone would've taken the guns and half the crazy/quirky dialogue away from the indulgent actors, ``Mad Dog Time'' might have been a decent way to kill a few hours.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Mad Dog Time'' (R; violence, language, sex, nudity).

The stars: Jeff Goldblum, Richard Dreyfuss, Gabriel Byrne, Ellen Barkin, Diane Lane.

Behind the scenes: Written and directed by Larry Bishop. Produced by Judith Rutherford James. Released by United Artists.

Running time: One hour, 32 minutes.

Playing: Selected theaters.

Our rating: Two Stars.

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Photo

Photo: The boss of bosses, Vic (Richard Dreyfuss) emerges from an otherworldly mental institution, triggering ``Mad Dog Time.''