A little overrated, but still entertaining and interesting.

Rating: 8/10 (26 August 2015)

I found this movie to be slightly overrated. I'd heard about Tarantino as an over-the-top director that had some really famous material, and this was definitely a unique movie, but not quite as praiseworthy as I'd been led to believe. That might be because Tarantino's style just doesn't appeal to me, but on the other hand, I enjoyed Django Unchained. Still, I can see how this would have caused people to be excited for the release of Pulp Fiction a few years later.
The way the story pans out is very different and unconventional. The actual diamond robbery is not actually shown, apart from a couple scenes of just before the heist and the escape from it. Gradually, the surviving crooks come back to their warehouse and try to figure out which of them is the cop that ratted the group out. Through their conversations, we can piece together the gist of what happened during the robbery. There are a few flashback scenes that show how the more important characters were recruited for the job by Joe Cabot. Fortunately, it's very easy to tell what is and isn't flashback, but they're timed so that it seems as though the character in question is wondering back to why they signed on to the job in the first place. It's not really an action movie, but can appeal to fans of that genre. The violence has a similar tone to a WW2 movie rather than something like the Matrix with cool and stylized fight scenes.
The characters are very memorable, partly because they are named by colors, partly because of the tipping/Madonna conversation at the beginning that has nothing to do with anything, and partly because they are written and acted well enough to be distinct. Blue and Brown are hardly shown at all since they both die during the robbery and are mentioned a couple times as the survivors discuss the events of the failed robbery. Joe Cabot is the hulking mastermind behind the whole job, and you get the sense that he's an incredibly ruthless man. His idea to use six strangers was smart since none of them would be compelled to save each other as a group of friends might. Unfortunately for Joe, he doesn't count on Mr. White's protective feelings for the younger Mr. Orange, which remain unshaken to the bitter end. Mr. Orange is injured for the majority of the movie, and his back story is probably the most interesting of the bunch. Mr. Blonde is violent and trigger- happy, shown by his iconic torture scene. Mr. Pink could be construed as the coward or the peacemaker of the group, depending on how you view it. It's hard to say whether he gets what he deserves since we don't really know what happens to him. Last is Nice Guy Eddie Cabot, who doesn't have any part in the robbery to speak of. You get the sense that he's been a privileged kid that's used to getting his way and doesn't have a lot of field experience as a thief.
The camera-work fits the aesthetic pretty well. The warehouse scenes have a lot of very long, wide shots that fit well with the long conversations they depict. This style might have gotten old, but the pacing really helped reduce that. The acting is good, but there isn't really opportunity for any hugely impressive performances. With the amount of dialogue involved, the script needed to be well crafted, and it was for the most part. I thought they could have restrained some of the swearing just because much of it felt out of realistic context.
It's a very male film both in cast and genre. There's lot of blood at some parts if you like or dislike that, but it's not put in a context where it makes you sympathize with the character like in say 127 Hours. The Mr. Blonde torture scene is also something to be conscious of if you think you're considering watching it. You need to be willing to pay attention your first time around, but it can be more of a fun movie if your with a bunch of friends who have all seen it before. If you're disgusted by the opening scene, I would recommend that you give it another twenty minutes to decide whether you want to watch the rest. Overall Rating: 8.1/10.