Tarantino proves he's for real. Deal with it.

Rating: 9/10 (23 February 1999)

I read a positive review of this film which said it was the Elmore Leonard adaptation people were waiting for, but he wasn't sure if this was the Tarantino film people were waiting for. Well, sure, if you were expecting PULP FICTION pt 2! Given the way we Americans (although I live in Canada, I'm a U.S. citizen landed here) love to backlash, I know it's really popular to say Quentin Tarantino is a hack, and I believe the account given in the book KILLER INSTINCT which suggests he let success go to his head. Still, there's no doubt the man has talent, and he shows it here.
I do agree with those who feel it's too long, De Niro is wasted, and Samuel L. Jackson does go overboard on the n-word. But it's funny and compelling to watch after the plot kicks in, with the same attention to character Leonard has. I'm not as familiar with the work of Pam Grier and Robert Forster that Tarantino and those of similar tastes are, but I was blown away by their work here. And who'd have thought a filmmaker as supposedly trapped in hipsville as Tarantino would present straight a romance between two middle-aged people, let alone an interracial one? That alone makes it worth watching. I also loved Bridget Fonda in the role of Melanie, an airhead. Fonda does that type of role well, because she has no condescension in her. I'm sure this film will get better with time, once the "Tarantino is nothing" campaign loses steam.