a wild ride; film shows just how much fun a director can have

Rating: Null/10 (13 September 2009)

That wacky Tarantino is at it again, this time making his mark in the historical genre by putting a campy spin on the events escalating behind the lines of WWII. Set in 1940s, Nazi-occupied France, the film spotlights a group of rugged, rebellious Jewish-American militia whose mission is to use anarchy to turn the tide of the war by killing and scalping as many Nazis as they can. Their efforts eventually lead to a golden opportunity to end the war once and for all...but that's only the beginning. Director Tarantino's thumbprint is all over this film and he's in fine form using a historical backdrop to create his own warped, hysterically over-the-top universe that's full of screwy dialogue, zany, larger-than-life characters, and audacious subject matter that can make you laugh and squirm in equal doses. Pitt is in rare form as the brash leader, intentionally bordering on caricature, and French actress Laurent is an alluring femme fatale, meanwhile Austrian actor Waltz is nothing short of spectacular as a wily, hawkeyed Nazi colonel. It goes on much longer than it needs to, and it's clearly not an accurate representation of history, but boy is it entertaining. ***½