RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)
5/5 stars
Part of John Ulmer's Favorite Movies List
(http://www.wiredonmovies.com/favorites.html)
Originally written in 2003/posted to rec.arts.movies.reviews in April
2004
REVIEW BY JOHN ULMER (Copyright, 2003/2004)
"Reservoir Dogs" is one of the rare films that lives up to its hype.
Much like "Goodfellas," this film did not let me down, but I actually
enjoyed it much more than I ever dreamed.
The film plays backwards, a bit like "Memento." It opens at the end,
and recounts the last few days in the lives of crooks pulling a
jewelry heist. But as we learn immediately in the beginning that the
heist went wrong. Someone ratted to the cops; the cops showed up
during the heist and all heck broke loose. But I may be getting ahead
of myself.
In the beginning of the film, Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) and Mr. Orange
(Tim Roth) are in a car. Mr. Orange has been shot. We don't know how,
he just has. Mr. White brings Mr. Orange to a warehouse, and the two
men enter. Eventually Mr. Pink (the wonderful Steve Buscemi) shows up,
followed by Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), a crazy madman who opened
fire on civilians at the jewelry heist. For the duration of the film,
we are left to wonder who the cop is/was, and how everything happened.
Things open up bit-by-bit. We are shown every Mr.'s life in the last
few days before the heist, and what all happened. Of course, the men
aren't really Mr. White, Mr. Pink, Mr. Orange and Mr. Blonde. These
are their fake names for the sake of the heist. But we learn their
real names and the parts they play in he robbery as the film moves on.
And the last twenty minutes of this film is one of the most absorbing
twenty minutes in film history. Things appear all of a sudden. For
example, how Mr. Orange got shot. Once you realize who shot him and
why, things start to make more sense. Because knowing who Mr. Orange
is makes you wonder why he got shot. But who is Mr. Orange? Is he the
cop? Or is he someone else? See the movie for yourself and figure it
all out.
"Reservoir Dogs" ain't no "Goodfellas," but on the level of film it is
a masterpiece. The opening scene is one of the most mimicked scenes in
film history. And the performances are extraordinary. Harvey Keitel
fills in the shoes of Mr. White, who some said Robert De Niro would
have been better for. In all respect, I do like De Niro better, and
admit that the character carries many traits that De Niro's characters
usually do. Cool under pressure. Smart. Always thinking. You can see
his brain working like a clock. But I must also admit that Harvey
Keitel did a very, very good job of bringing his character to life.
You can almost see the chemistry between the actors boiling up. I like
films where there aren't many characters, because you will almost
always find the actors on screen giving some of the best performances
of their lives. They are locked with these other actors, and their
performance just gets stronger with every line they speak. Take, for
instance, the tension between Mr. White and Mr. Blonde. Keitel and
Madsen really go at each other, and it's great. And Buscemi, my
personal favorite of the group, is not only funny, but fun to watch on
screen. His performance is as great as his humor.
It's safe to say that Quentin Tarantino is a talented director. With
films such as "Pulp Fiction," "Jackie Brown" and "Reservoir Dogs" on
his resume, it's easy to understand why there's some hype and worry
built up around his upcoming flick "Kill Bill" (his first
director-outing in more than a few years). But in "Reservoir Dogs,"
Tarantino delivers a hard-hitting, foul, and sometimes truly appalling
film, that grips you by the throat and never lets go.
"Reservoir Dogs" isn't for everyone. Like I said, it is a rough,
tough, gruff and at times sickening film (see the police torture
scene). But if you can handle some very strong violence and language,
then this film is for you. It's got some amazing talents, some fairly
unknown at the time, bringing together one well-written, well-directed
film. Quentin Tarantino has said to be losing his charm for making a
good film lately, but no one can forget this film.
- John Ulmer
http://www.wiredonmovies.com
e-mail: johnulmer2003@msn.com
========== X-RAMR-ID: 37496 X-Language: en X-RT-ReviewID: 1159677 X-RT-TitleID: 1040912 X-RT-SourceID: 1382 X-RT-AuthorID: 6769 X-RT-RatingText: 5/5
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews