How wrong I was about Tarantino and how brilliant this film is

Rating: 9/10 (3 September 2007)

I think I've started every Tarantino review I've done so far with this same statement. Somehow I got this pre-conceived notion in my head that I hated Tarantino and all his films. I thought he tried too hard to be original and different and used gratuitous nudity, violence, language just for the sake of doing it and then I accidentally got sucked in by Kill Bill and I have been more of a convert every day. So finally I sat down to watch the classic that is Reservoir Dogs which I think might be one of the smartest and most stylish films in Hollywood. The entire film is based on a huge heist that you never see, with some characters you hardly get to know, with a deep history that you never really get the full background of, and a setting that is 98% in an empty warehouse room and yet is incredibly brilliant. The script is so sharp and intelligent and although CHOCK full of horrendous four letter words but you get in the jive with who these guys are and what's happening and who is who and it just sucks you in. So much of the film relies so heavily on the dialog and it's just riveting in the way it is presented. The actors in this film are kind of a who's who of brilliant character actors who have done piles of films and this is kind of their piece de resistance because they give their all and should have received academy award nominations. Some of them give their best performances I have ever seen.
Academy Award nominee Harvey Keitel plays Mr. White, the down to earth, analytical and almost concerned thief who arrives at the warehouse first. Keitel is amazing and easily one of the strongest performers in the film. He has a really interesting character and even though he is bad, and an all around villainous character he might be the one you feel the most empathy for. Tim Roth spends most of the film bleeding to death on the floor and yet has a really interesting back story and a major part in the entire film. His performance is perhaps a little more subtle but equally as brilliant. Steve Buscemi, who I have always thought has been a very versatile and brilliant actor, gives literally the performance of his lifetime as Mr. Pink. He's almost the middle man, the neutral guy between everyone and is trying to play it safe so that he doesn't get burnt by the other mystery guys he's working with. Buscemi is wide eyed, and loud and just really puts some excitement into the entire story with a really over the top and incredible performance. Chris Penn has a smaller role but still adds to the cast as choreographer of the whole heist Eddie Cabot. While he doesn't get quite the screen time or dialog that any of the other characters do he still comes across as the biggest villain to the other 'color' characters (Pink, White, Blue etc.) I saved the best for last. I've seen Michael Madsen in SO many roles over the years and he's always decent but I have never seen him pull off anything the way he pulled off his role as Mr. Blonde. Blonde is just a psychotic killer and Madsen makes you down right petrified of him. He's smooth and quiet, and rough and then he lets loose this incredibly demented side and has one of the greatest moments in movie history as he tortures someone while dancing to seventies music. Madsen should have gotten an Academy Award instantly for this role!! He is a terrific character actor with well over 70 roles to his credit.
Music and mood plays such a huge part in this film. I don't believe it takes place in any other time than modern day but Tarantino seems to go out of his way to make you feel like the film is in the seventies. The music and the montages and the way it plays such an important part to everything. The cars look retro, the clothing is ambiguous to any time period and even just the feel of the film. It's got this gangster/heist/mob feel to it like no other film I've ever seen. The blood flows freely and there is a lot of really sick scenes and it's certainly not for the squeamish or PG fans because Reservoir Dogs is the definition of 'R' rated but still for an adult film of it's kind it stands out. There is a lot of mystery surrounding it...both kind of plot hole, strangeness like how Chris Penn's character gets shot in a triangle of shooters and what happens to Mr. Pink after he flees but these questions will remain as part of the greatness that is the classic film Reservoir Dogs. 9.5/10