You better know who your friends are in Reservoir Dogs

Rating: 9/10 (2 February 2011)

Reservoir Dogs is an interesting story of a gang of criminals and their planned jewelry heist. The gang runs into some issues and suspect someone tipped the cops off of their plan. After a shootout and fleeing from the authorities the remaining gang members meet in a warehouse to discuss the job, and find out what really happened. The story is told in a very interesting manner, because the scenes are not in chronological order. This can be confusing to some viewers, however if the viewer can stick out being confused for a bit the plot will all come together brilliantly. The director Quentin Tarantino uses this technique often throughout his films such as, Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill.
The most apparent theme in this film is that someone must know who his or her real friends are. In many scenarios throughout this film, this becomes an important issue. When dealing with crime you have to be especially careful. All of the members of the gang are given nicknames so that their real names are not exposed. However, during the traumatic shootout and running from the cops one of the thieves, Mr. White, reveals his real name to another thief, Mr. Orange, who is injured. Mr. White then questions weather or not he should take the injured Mr. Orange to the hospital since he knows his real name. If he knew he could trust Mr. Orange he could take him to the hospital for the treatment but since the recent events, none of the thieves know whom they can trust. The gang eventually begins to accuse each other of being the cause of the problem, and many people are killed. Reinforcing the theme that you must know who your real friends are.
The lighting and special effects of this film are very well integrated. They help capture the realism of the story. Very little artificial lighting is used in this film and most lighting comes from natural sources, which helps capture the realism and mood intended. One example is the poor lighting in the warehouse, where much of the story takes place, gives the viewer the feel of a grimy old dimly lit building where nothing good goes on. There are very little special effects used in this film because the realism of the subject does not require much special effect to capture the reality.