Violence as Poetry

Rating: 10/10 (24 May 2005)

First things first, I'm not going to call Reservoir Dogs 'Quentin Tarantino's best movie', because I love all of his movies dearly and I will not pick favorites. Nevertheless, as of the last time I saw the three of them (the other ones being, of course, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. I'm not counting Four Rooms, because he only had one segment in it - even if it was the best part of the movie), Reservoir Dogs was the one I enjoyed most.
A brief overview: Lawrence Tierney is Joe Cabot, and Chris Penn is his son 'Nice Guy' Eddie. Joe is a crime boss planning a diamond heist, and for the operation he hires six men, all of them acquainted with Cabot but none of which knows each other. To avoid having any details about one another they keep their identities secret and call each other by code names: Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), Mr. Pink (the always wonderful Steve Buscemi), Mr. Blonde (action star Michael Madsen in the part of a lifetime), Mr. Blue (Eddie Bunker) and Mr. Brown (Tarantino himself, who gets killed at the very beginning of the movie). When the robbery becomes a bloodbath, the thieves escape to the rendezvous and try to figure out what went wrong and who's responsible.
The movie is basically a very small scale theatrical production, as the main body of the story takes place in only one location, although there are several flashbacks that play a very important part in the film. The movie caused a lot of buzz at the time of its release partly due to its high level of violence, but today it seems much less shocking and that gives us a chance to better appreciate Tarantino's unique storytelling abilities - especially since having also seen Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown we can now safely assume that its success wasn't a one time thing. Tarantino's dialogue is brilliant beyond competition and his juxtaposition of conversations about life-and-death issues and mindless chatter about the most minor trivialities of life makes his movies a treat to watch (Note the Madonna conversation in the beginning of Reservoir Dogs and the Delfonics chats in Jackie Brown. While I'm on the subject, the use of music here is brilliant, as Quentin juxtaposes a nostalgic 70s radio show with the film's most violent scenes). The poetry and beauty put into the most violent sequences are as enchanting as they are shocking, and Michael Madsen's torture scene, backed with Stealer's Wheel's 1970s hit 'Stuck In The Middle With You', became an instant timeless classic.
Tarantino is of course the main guy in this classic, but the actors are all worthy of praise. Harvey Keitel is a great straight man, who seems to be the only honest person in the film, and the always nervous and catatonic Steve Buscemi balances him out. Michael Madsen and Tim Roth are both spectacular, and Lawrence Tierney is brilliant (as another character describes him - "You remember the Fantastic Four?... The Thing. He looks just like The Thing.") The relationships forming between the six individuals, all of the complete strangers, make Reservoir Dogs a really fascinating watch. Tarantino is a picky director; he makes few movies, but the ones he makes really count. I'm waiting for his next release, 'Kill Bill', eagerly. If you missed out on any of his three masterpieces, don't.