Tarantino can do much better than this!

Rating: 5/10 (15 April 2007)

I must admit to having very low expectations for 'Grindhouse'. but was ready and hoping to be surprised. Unfortunately what I saw was a lazy exercise in vanity, especially on the part of Quentin Tarantino.
Robert Rodriguez's 'Planet Terror' was far closer to the grind house concept and worked well as a gross out zombie picture, though after 'Sin City' it was a definite step backward.
'Death Proof' on the other hand does not feel like a grind house picture - it's too slow, too talky and lacks the sleazy energy of say a 'Foxy Brown' or 'Ilsa the harem keeper of the Sheiks' or transgressive shock value of 'They Call Her One Eye'. Without a doubt 'Kill Bill' deserves the grind house title far more than 'Death Proof'.
Rather than producing a authentic grind house picture, Tarantino tries and fails to write a movie based around women which he basically is not up to pulling off. In 'Jackie Brown' he successfully crafted dialogue for the black cast members and I suppose he thought he could do the same for women, but his writing in 'Death Proof' is nowhere near the high standard he has set for himself. The conversations the women have are plain boring and most of all he has lost the knack of making us laugh in this movie - there were none of the great lines which made 'Pulp Fiction' so memorable.
The only times the movie works is when Kurt Russell is on screen and here is another failing of 'Death Proof' - it lacks the depth of acting talent which graced his previous movies. In 'Reservoir Dogs' we had actors of the calibre of Keitel. Buscemi, Roth, Madsen & Tierney. "Death Proof" boasts only Russell and a collection of uncharismatic women who quite simply cannot make the movie seem real. The use of stunt-woman Zoe Bell in a large speaking role may have looked fun on paper but aside from her stunt work she's painful to watch, as is Tracie Thoms as the annoyingly macho Kim. Observe the wooden interaction between the women in the diner and compare it with the similar diner scene in 'Reservoir Dogs. The placement of references to films and music which worked so well coming from the mouths of middle aged men just sounds silly being spoken by women in their 20's. Strangely though the Zoe & Kim characters mention 'Vanishing Point', 'Dirty Mary Crazy Larry' & 'Gone in 60 Seconds' as examples of car movies they like, why no mention of 'Two Lane Blacktop' which was directed by Monte Hellman. He was a producer on 'Reservoir Dogs' and it seems odd Tarantino failed to give him a reverential nod.
Regarding the plot, it does not make sense. The movie is in chronological order, so unless the person Kurt Russell plays in the second part of the movie is 'Stuntman Bob' and not the 'Stuntman Mike' who kills the first batch of women, we have no explanation of why he drinks alcohol, fails to kill the second batch, shows fear and drives a non 'deathproof car.
When it finally comes, the driving sequence is superb, but it's too little too late & the ending has to be one of the silliest I've ever seen. 'Grindhouse' despite a poor opening at the box office will make money in the long run, but hopefully its poor reception by those other than hardened and uncritical fans may spur Tarantino to quit taking the easy option of re-visiting old cinematic genres and instead write something of genuine worth.