Reservoir Dogs (1992)

 

Genre: Crime/Drama                    Time: 1h 39mins               Director: Quentin Tarantino

Quick Summary: Six criminals, hired to steal diamonds, do not know each other's true identity. While attempting the heist, the police ambushes them, leading them to believe that one of them is an undercover officer.

I'm not going to lie, this is kinda overrated but I still enjoyed it. And a bonus, this doesn't have a foot shot scene in it. 

For the performances, I could tell you that just about everyone here is bringing their best. Though there is one performance that stood out to me the most, Michael Madsen as Mr Blonde. With his character, he accomplishes what most actors find very difficult; to do horrible things on screen and still be a very likeable character and he does that with a refreshing and enjoyable sense of dark humour.

As a big fan of Quentin Tarantino, it was very nice to see his trademarks in his earlier films. At the beginning of the film, the cast is sat around a dinner table having casual banter and conversation. For most of the scene, it slowly circles around the outside of the table, emphasizing the communal nature of the gathering. But when a moment of tension arises, Tarantino transitions to a standard shot-reverse-shot scheme that chops up the group. After cooler heads prevail, we start circling again. This is used a lot throughout the film, especially the reverse shot scheme.

 

Another thing I will note is that he plays with time, jumping back and forth to slowly build the mystery and help the story of the botched bank job unfold as the audience needs it to, rather than in a conventional way. To this end, aspects of this film play out more like a mystery thriller, with the audience trying to figure out both why the bank job failed and also who the undercover cop actually is. Throughout the film more and more information is chucked in at seemingly random times, unravelling the film either all at once or only an inch at a time. This keeps you on your toes and eager for more information.

One thing I did kinda dislike is how dialogue-heavy this film is, which I really don't mind, but this was HEAVY. I felt like nobody stopped talking for more than 5 seconds, and a lot of the time, it wasn't plot related for a while. To add to this, most of the cast stays stationary in one set for most of the film, with flashbacks being the small action scenes. I found my attention drifting through the film sadly. I mean the opening scene is basically a seven-minute monologue about Madonna and not tipping waitresses is a good thing.

The soundtrack for the entire movie consists of classic gems. One hit wonders from the ’70s come courtesy of the radio station blaring over the speakers in the warehouse. The tunes fit with each scene and put the viewer right in the middle of the chaotic melee. I really liked this, especially for one scene which everyone knows as the iconic scene from the film "Stuck In The Middle" Plays, which doesn't show gore but implies heavily what has happened.

Though the plot is kinda simple and this is really dialogue-heavy, I still enjoyed this and do recommend it.

6/10

"Mr. Pink: Tagged a couple of cops. You kill anybody?

Mr. White: A few cops.

Mr. Pink: No real people?

Mr. White: Just cops."

"Mr. Pink: I can say I definitely didn't do it because I know what I did or didn't do. But I cannot definitely say that about anybody else, 'cause I don't definitely know."

"Eddie, you keep talking like a bitch, I'm gonna slap you like a bitch."