Bloody but clever

Rating: Null/10 (17 June 1999)

After seeing Reservoir Dogs last night, I have come to the conclusion that it is probably one of the best debut films I've seen. Tarantino's first movie does not equal the later Pulp Fiction, but it is very cleverly done. Yes, there is a lot of blood and gratuitous violence, perhaps too much. Tarantino does have an ear for clever dialogue, though, when it is not limited to people shouting obscenities. Several scenes in Reservoir Dogs are brutally funny, not because of the action but because of the writing. Harvey Keitel and Tim Roth (Mr. White and Mr. Orange) are both great actors and their scenes together are good if painful to watch. Mr. Blonde (Mark? Madsen, also great) scared me more than any flashy horror-movie villain ever has--the entire scene with the unfortunate police officer is very well-done and also VERY hard to watch. In essence, the movie is well-acted and mostly well-scripted. If you like Pulp Fiction you'll most likely enjoy (maybe that's not the right word) Reservoir Dogs. All the cinematic scenes of Pulp Fiction are right there--the camera angles from the trunk, people being shot in the backseats of cars, clever dialogue in seedy restaurants, etc. An interesting ride of a movie.