Good movie with a bad reputation

Rating: Null/10 (20 May 2003)

On a friend's recommendation, I finally watched Reservoir Dogs for the first time not long ago, and I must admit that I was amused, disturbed, and left wanting to watch it again right away. Reservoir Dogs tells the story of four robbers as they recover from a badly botched jewelry store heist and try to figure which one of them is really the undercover cop that ratted them out. In my opinion, this is simply an awesome movie. Though the abundance of profanity and sadistic displays of violence may be tough for some to overlook, they are an absolutely integral to the tone and plot. The aspect of this film that most impressed me was how strikingly realistic it was. There were no two-dimensional characters in it at all. The use of flashbacks to show the story from each robber's point of view helps to give the viewer a feeling that they know each of them. It seems that in the ten years since its release, Reservoir Dogs has gained a reputation as one of the darkest, most violent movies made. Regardless of what has been said about it, this movie isn't just senseless violence. Just as in The Godfather, the displays of brutality in Reservoir Dogs help to better illustrate the ugly nature of the criminal underworld the characters dwell in. The infamous 'ear' scene is not nearly as bad as it sounds. While it is unsettling, the whole point of this scene is to show that Mr. Blonde, having just been released from prison, has become so desensitized to violence and so angry at society that he feels he is vindicating the hardships he has experienced by maiming one of those responsible for his grief, a policeman. While the majority of movies show the story from the hero's perspective, this one focuses on the lives of the criminals. In fact, there is no hero, only paranoid, sociopathic robbers and inept cops. If you're looking for a feel-good movie, you had best look somewhere else, but if you like crime, drama, action, dark humor, or hey, just about anything else, Reservoir Dogs has it.