Tarantino is a lyrical genius

Rating: 10/10 (15 May 2000)

I consider myself to be a film buff, a lover of the cinema, maybe even an addict. I will see a film because it is a film. For example, I knew I was going to hate the Virgin Suicides and I saw it anyway. I have heard nothing positive of Battlefield Earth and I am heading there after this review is completed. And on this logic alone I rented Reservoir Dogs for the first time in 1993. I had heard of a new man on the scene that apparently was the talk of Hollywood. I had also heard that there were some pretty interesting actors in the film and I had heard that Harvey Keitel was the one responsible for getting the film started. So I was intrigued to see what the fuss was over this film. However, the first time I saw it I was rather impartial to it. It's not that I didn't like it but I just thought it to be okay. I didn't really get what all the fuss was about but I did have a hard time watching the torture scene. So I put Reservoir Dogs away in my mind until Pulp Fiction came out. Because by the time Pulp Fiction came out Tarantino had penned the story for a brilliant True Romance and for Natural Born Killers and he had a few hysterical cameos in films like Sleep With Me where he attacked famous films like Top Gun and what they really meant.
After I was swept away with Pulp Fiction, I went back and watched Reservoir Dogs again and this time I saw something that I didn't or couldn't see before. I can't really put my finger on what it is or why it is that I didn't see it's brilliance before but I just didn't. But Reservoir Dogs has to be one of the best movies ever by a new comer. Forget how it is directed because it's direction is fine, but what Reservoir Dogs has that is sheer brilliance is an ear for dialogue. There is not one character in this film that doesn't have at least one insightful thing to say. Even Tarantino gives himself some great dialogue with his take on Madonna's Like A Virgin, or his displeasure with his given name by Joe ( "Mr. Brown sounds too much like Mr. Shit!).
There are certain films that perhaps should be mandatory viewing at film school, Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs should be two of them. This is one of those films that if perhaps you didn't quite like or understand the first time around, you should see again. It hits you like an epiphany the second time. In Tarantino's world, people are never one dimensional. They have things to say whether it is about tipping or the name of an actress, or the rants of Nice Guy Eddie talking about them having places all over of the place. I would love to see Kevin Smith and Quentin Tarantino get together and write a film. It would probably be the funniest yet most serious film that has ever been made and it would certainly be one of the most entertaining.
Reservoir Dogs is a film that you can watch over and over again and never get tired of and you can always catch something that you never caught the last time. This is truly one of the finest films ever made and if you haven't seen it in quite some time, do yourself a favour and rent it. It is one of a kind.
10 out of 10