A Top Dog for Tarantino

Rating: 10/10 (25 January 2005)

Although not actually the first Tarantino film I ever saw, 'Reservoir Dogs' was the flick which made me realise just how much of a Quentin fan I was fast becoming. I'll never forget the very first time I saw it and the impact it had on me - back then, I knew right from the very first scene, the coffee shop prologue, that I'd fallen completely in love with his incomparable writing/directing style, and that this was one name in the film industry I would never be able to ignore. Ever since, 'Reservoir Dogs' has remained one of my all-time favourites - it's an absolutely fantastic piece of film-making, complete with stylish camera-work, a brilliant soundtrack (I just salivate over the opening credits sequence with 'Little Green Bag' playing) and stellar characterisation. Not to mention that Tim Roth gives one of the most incredible performances I've ever seen in my life.
Whether or not, with the successive likes of 'Pulp Fiction', 'Jackie Brown' et al, this can be considered Quentin's ultimate best will always be up for debate, but there's no doubt that 'Reservoir Dogs' remains his most hard-hitting and emotionally haunting movie to date. More often than not, it seems to me that people who malign it as little more than a callous showcase of gore and gun-play have rather missed the point, and fail to realise just how much depth the implications of this story really have.
The key to its effectiveness, I think, is just how well-constructed each individual character is over the course of its running-time, with so many fascinating and paradoxical dispositions on display that the viewer gets yanked right into rooting both for and against them. The story itself, though cleverly-told in terms of direction, is pretty straightforward, but the characters give it so much meaning - we have the slimy but lovable professional of the group in Mr. Pink, the suave but chilling bad boy in Mr. Blonde, and, perhaps most strikingly of all, the mutual friendship between Mr. White and Mr. Orange. The utter humanity in their interaction is so strong that it completely overshadows the increasingly bitter and nihilistic backdrop against which the drama unfolds - while the other criminals are busy descending into an almost animal-like aloofness over the outcome of the bungled heist, White's chief concern remains with the welfare of his wounded companion. He's completely unaware of course that his new-found friend could, under slightly different circumstances, just as easily have been a mortal enemy
At the same time, the movie is littered with hilarious dialogue and light-hearted banter throughout, thanks jointly to Tarantino's knack for penning such sharp, tantalising material and the cast's own slickness in delivering it. All the acting in 'Reservoir Dogs' is superb - in fact, there isn't one player on board who doesn't do justice to their character. Roth is definitely the cream of the crop here - he's just stunning in this film, period. I personally feel that he handled the US accent very nicely, and never at any point detected any real accent lapses. On top of which, he plays the deeply shaken and physically deteriorating Mr. Orange with such precision, you find yourself completely absorbed in his agony - my heart goes out to him every time I watch it, particularly when I see his facial expression following the encounter with the armed female driver; it's amazingly telling. Meanwhile, Steve Buscemi is excellent as always, as are Michael Madsen and Harvey Keitel. Kirk Baltz too is outstanding as Marvin Nash, the poor young cop doomed to kidnapping and ear-severing at the hands of the sadistic Mr Blonde (a properly shocking scene, but not an overly graphic one, and it does serve its purpose - and, contrary to popular belief, most of us 'Dogs' fans DO feel pity for Marvin). Tarantino himself turns in a memorable job with Mr. Brown, a relatively minor role, but thanks to him, I can never listen to Madonna's 'Like a Virgin' in the same way again!
'Reservoir Dogs' is in turns exciting, disturbing and always compelling, but it's the affecting aftertaste it leaves you with in the end - nothing could have prepared me for just how towering those last few minutes would become. Here, we see the friendship between White and Orange ultimately prevail, but in the most painfully tragic way possible. The sight of Mr. White, now bleeding from his own wound, cradling Mr. Orange's head so fondly, coupled with Orange's moribund gasps of, "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry" is something which will haunt me for the rest of my life. The very ending left me heart-wrenched, but also full of admiration for Orange's final decision - having witnessed how true and altruistic a friend White had been to him, and just how many sacrifices he'd made for his sake, the only way that Orange could possibly return his great loyalty was to put an end to his own deceit, knowing full well what would happen to him if he did
Ignore anyone who tells you that this is nothing but a violent blood-fest - it's a deep, unnerving and, in the end, very poignant film about trust and loyalty that works on so many levels.
Grade: A+