"We in Tarantino-lovin business. And cousin, business is a boomin!"

Rating: 8/10 (21 September 2009)

Quentin Tarantino may be the most unique American filmmaker to date. He is one of the best. He finds a way to make himself both scarce and unique all at once. His latest, "Inglorious Basterds" is no exception to his norm. It is an entertaining, thrilling, unique and character driven movie that excels at making us pay attention. Not to the lights and sounds of the movie but to the dialogue and those saying it. Does that not sound like the typical description of Tarantino? Anyone who has seen the trailer knows that Brad Pitt is Aldo Raine and that he leads a group of Jewish-American soldiers masquerading as a group hell-bent on scalping Nazi's. Along with Sgt. Donnie (Hostel director Eli Roth), Hugo Stigglitz (Til Schweiger who will forever be identified with this role) Lt. Raine and succeed in making such headway in the "Nazi-killin business" that Hitler mentions in outrage that a certain team member is not to be referred to as "The Bear Jew." Did you know that one of the main characters in this story has never heard of the Basterds nor will she ever meet them? The lone survivor of a blatant slaughter, young Shoshanna (Melanie Laurent in an Oscar-nomination worthy role) resurfaces as the owner of a movie theater in Nazi-occupied Paris. Soon she becomes object of Pvt. Frederick Zoller's (Daniel Bruhl) affection. Their relationship or lack thereof, is the most prominent one in the film. The one intertwining character is the film's best. The charming, curious, intelligent, disgusting, immoral, well-read Col. Landa (Christopher Waltz, who becomes the hands down front-runner for Best Supporting Actor) pursues not only the Basterds but keeps bumping into Shoshanna. Even he would have been surprised by just exactly the fire started.
The plot of this film rewrites history but only the crucial parts. The funny thing not only is change meant for us to revel in but I barely stopped to think on the lack of textbook accuracy. This movie is full of images that will stick with you far after the lights come back on. The only linger because they were introduced to us with such color and voice. The violence is there but as always with Tarantino it furthers the story. This film feels at times like a western set in the East. The vast majority of these characters are simple men with moral or immoral agendas. That's all. The soundtrack is great as well. Not overbearing but certainly mood setting. The acting is great to and once again proves you don't need the big names to make a movie work just the great ones. I can't say enough about Brad Pitt so I won't. If he isn't the biggest and perhaps best actor working I can only think of one other. He is effortless here as he was as Benjamin Button. In some places he is intense and you can see the wheels working (see: Fight Club). In a place like this you forget he is who he is and you just see the character. That is the beauty of this film and perhaps Tarantino's films in general. You can take it for what it is no matter what you just saw the outcome is simple by film's end. Simple but it sticks with you. The dialogue and plot maybe the most unique thing you've ever seen but it resonates as a simple outcome lead by glorious characters. This is not the year's best film but it is in fact one of the best films to grace the cinema in 2009. Congratulations Quentin Tarantino, you are this movie's starand thank you for the last line of dialogue. He is speaking right to us.