Short of a masterpiece

Rating: 8/10 (4 June 1999)

The thing to pay attention to when you watch "Reservoir Dogs" is the relationship that develops between some of the different characters. A scene that I took great interest in while viewing this for the second time was the scene where Mr. White and Mr. Pink are discussing the events that took place that afternoon. Mr. White is combing his hair when Mr. Pink cocks his gun; Mr. White quickly turns toward Mr. Pink in panic. This event illustrates the mistrust between the characters. A scene that created somewhat of a hole in the movie was the scene when Mr. White pulls out his guns and lights up the two unsuspecting cops. In an actual undercover assignment there's no way that a cop in Mr. Orange's position would allow two police officers to be murdered. Now the rationale behind this event is that there is an existing bond of friendship between Mr. White and Mr. Orange, but Quentin Tarantino needed to show the viewer more information to this effect. I hate to criticize such a wonderful, brilliant film but I believe that aspect of the film sticks out like a sore thumb. People who write this film off as repulsive trash are merely two-dimensional thinkers and are afraid to deviate from their sheltered lives. Very good effort by Quentin Tarantino. Many aspects of this film (i.e. out of sequence events) were mastered in "Pulp Fiction." But Pulp Fiction lacks one thing that Reservoir Dogs thrives on: Bravado.