Tarantino's Dirty Dozen Nazi-style

Rating: Null/10 (21 August 2009)

Inglourious Basterds (2009)
** (out of 4)
Once upon a time in Nazi occupied France, a group known as the Basterds are sent on a mission to scalp as many Nazis as they can. All this leads up to a movie premier were several members of the Third Reich will be attending, Hitler there as well. Tarantino has been a favorite of mine since seeing his first feature over a decade ago but this film here is a real mess of a movie. For starters, it's clear the writer was having trouble trying to come up with dialogue to fit the 1941-44 settings. This film doesn't sound like a Tarantino movie and it doesn't feature characters you'd expect to see in a Tarantino movie. While there are several great scenes, overall this movie runs way too long and the writer/director forgets to add any characters. The one character that does come out is the "Jew Hunter" masterfully played by Christoph Waltz. Brad Pitt's "Apache" leader is another decent character who doesn't get enough screen time and outside that wonderful accent, isn't given much to do. What's so sad is that both of these characters don't get that much screen time when instead we have other "chapters" dealing with a surviving Jew running a movie house where this big German premiere is going to be held. We see her fighting off advances from a German soldier and we also get the story of a German actress willing to help the Basterds. Some people complained that the dialogue in DEATH PROOF was too weak but I enjoyed the film. I'd say the weak dialogue is here. The movie has a major problem in finding that Tarantino zing and often times we're left with scenes that just appear to come off as the writer trying, and failing, to recapture that magic. Just take a look at the scene outside the theater when the German soldier is trying to carry on a discussion about Chaplin and various other German directors. It falls flat. Much of the movie falls flat and that includes the changing of history at the end of the movie. I don't have a problem with them changing history but when you have the Basterds, a lean, mean killing machine and Hitler, don't you want to see Hitler tortured? The way Hitler is played makes for a comic book but if you're going to change history then he deserved much worse than what's given here. Again, Pitt and Waltz were terrific but only one of their characters was really well written. The surrounding Basterds are men we never really get to know with the exception of "The Bear Jew" played by HOSTEL director Eli Roth (in a not very good performance). Why remake the 1978 film, itself a remake of THE DIRTY DOZEN, and not let us get to know the men? The majority of the running time is given to the German and French characters, which would have been fine but most of what we're seeing and hearing has been done better in other movies and that includes the work of Tarantino. Even sadder is that there are some great moments here and there. This includes a pretty good opening sequence where a farmer is investigated for hiding Jews. The rat story is quite creepy and leads to an amazing camera shot. Another great scene happens when we first see the Basterds at work. Being a major fan of the director's I'll certainly give the movie a second chance but I don't see my opinion changing. A real disappointed from start to finish but what's so sad is the lack of great characters. One and half doesn't carry a 153-minute movie.