Sam Peckinpah Does Blazing Saddles

Rating: 9/10 (7 April 2015)

DJANGO UNCHAINED is yet another film I was in absolutely no hurray to see . This was mainly down to the fact I thought INGLORIOUS BASTERDS was easily one of the worst films to ever have nominated as Best Picture at the Academy Awards . An overlong self indulgent mess that wouldn't have been made if the name Tarantino wasn't associated with it . Add to this much of the reviews stated that the best thing about it was Christoph Waltz similar to what critics thought was the best thing about IB and I was under the impression I'd be watching an identical movie this time where the war genre had been replaced by a Western one and I don't like Westerns so no reason to watch what I believed was going to be utter rubbish .
I went in to DJANGO UNCHAINED with very low expectations which helped a lot but much of my enjoyment of this bloody black comedy was down to seeing 12 YEARS A SLAVE . Now that was a serious true life tale on a serious subject and was totally sombre and humourless but I found myself constantly comparing the two movies with not too dissimilar themes and an identical setting in time and place . Indeed if 12 YEARS A SLAVE was the prior piece then I'd jump to the conclusion Tarantino was not only inspired by McQueen's film but was actively spoofing it . Slavery is wrong of course and laughter is the best medicine so what better antidote than combining ludicrous dialogue and situations on a serious topic ? A deconstructionist film similar to BLAZING SADDLES ? Yeah why not ?
The early part of the film is very episodic and doesn't really get to the main bulk of the story until about halfway through . If you don't like the opening scene then it'd be a good idea to simply switch off because there's more than two and a half hours to go . There's extreme violence which is a homage to the great Sam Peckinpah and unrestrained racist language but neither is meant to be taken seriously in my opinion and would have liked to have seen this in the cinema if only to gauge the audiences reaction . Anyone who doesn't laugh like a drain at the over the top deaths and racial slurs might just be in danger of being called a hypocrite . That said there is a murder involving a pack of dogs that isn't graphic but by the same yardstick feels very jarring in tone with the rest of the movie and there's no indication of any humour being meant unlike the rest of the film and one wonders what point the director is making by including it ?
Everyone has already praised Waltz and just to make it official his peers gave him a well deserved Oscar as best supporting actor . Everyone has also praised DiCaprio who is very much cast against type . A lot of people have praised Foxx who seemed to disappear from the radar after his Oscar winning role in COLLATERAL but he's very good here . For me the stand out performance was Samuel L Jackson as housekeeper Stephen who despite being black probably uses the N word more often than anyone else and no one can pronounce the mofo phrase entertainingly well as Samuel L Jackson . It is one of the most memorable screen performances of recent cinema and it's a great pity Waltz stole all the acting acclaim and awards for this movie . Jackson deserved a Oscar nomination at the very least
I didn't think I was going to enjoy this especially since it clocks in for two and three quarter hours but as the end titles came up I found myself still wanting even more . I'd consider this Tarantino's masterwork and even found myself forgiving him for INGLORIOUS BASTERDS . Please Quentin I want some more