UNDER-RATED

Rating: 8/10 (23 July 2019)

UNDER-RATED
Yeah. That's right. I'm saying it. This movie is great and doesn't deserve to be relegated to second tier Tarantino status.
When I popped the movie in, I was expecting to have to write a review saying "hey, I know this movie is widely regarded as a lesser film but I still kinda like it," all the while trying not to act sheepish about it but, after watching it again this afternoon, I can definitely say that this is one of my favorite Quentin Tarantino films.
Now I am not going to get too into the weeds about what I love about this film except to say that those same old themes which I always seem to come back to, growing older, time moving on, and identity are all there teeming under the surface of this taught crime thriller.
Sure, the swear count isn't as high as Tarantino's other works, and neither is the violence by a long shot but if that's enough to make us lose sight of how brilliantly directed this film is then maybe we ought to admit we just like Tarantino because he is a violent director and we just don't like him so much when he isn't splitting heads and carving symbols into people's foreheads.
I for one find this to be among my favorites because of the slower pacing which makes the stakes for these characters seem real and true. This isn't a film where violence is played for laughs. Violence is fast. Bang! Over. Dead body on the ground. A life that was now is not.
The fear of death and growing old loom large in this movie as everyone plays a game for keeps knowing that they either win or die.