A Few Good Ideas

Rating: 4/10 (30 July 1999)

Before the brilliant "Pulp Fiction" and the epic "Jackie Brown," writer-director Quentin Tarantino burst onto the independent films scene with this morbid little piece of filmmaking called "Reservoir Dogs." It tells the terribly unpleasant story of a few chatty thugs, with color-coded names, who assemble in an abandoned warehouse after a jewel heist goes terribly wrong. Loud arguments, gun-fights, and a nasty little torture scene ensue. Still, Tarantino had a few good ideas, and I'll give him that. Narrative through flashback was done with a clever flair and I did like the way Tarantino chose to have all his characters lacking morals (even the "blue rat"), so we wouldn't be forced to sympathize with any one of them. That's all that "Reservoir Dogs" really is though, a few good ideas but a genuinely unpleasant moviegoing experience. Rated R. 99 minutes. 4 out of 10.