Blood, Diamonds, and Madonna: What could be more fun?

Rating: 9/10 (7 October 1999)

Anyone who claims to be a Tarantino fan and prefers "Pulp Fiction" must not have been paying attention to "Reservoir Dogs", clearly the better of the two films. "Reservoir Dogs" is an unabashed homage to heist films and Murphy's law: everything can and will go wrong! Oh, but what fun it is watching everything go wrong. Not that this film should be taken lightly, as it is quite disturbing in it's language, gore, and brilliant suggestions of maniacal violence. This film was, in my opinion, a breakout for most of the actors. But two in particular steal the movie: Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink and Michael Madsen as Mr. Blond. Harvey Keitel, of course, is a human tornado and gives a requisite tour de force performance. But by 1992, anyone who knew Keitel's work expects him to be great. It's the actors that were lesser known that really kicked in the door. Not to take anything away from the other performers, but the movie truly belongs to Keitel, Madsen, and Buscemi (Tim Roth has been better, so I won't really mention him). When you do see this movie, or if you already have, don't be fooled into thinking it completely original. I suggest you take a look at an older (and better) Kubrick film "The Killing". You'll see the similarities and will get a better film in the long run. But to the film at hand: Reservoir Dogs is brilliant and one of my favorites.