This Little Doggie Bites

Rating: 8/10 (18 November 2010)

Reservoir Dogs is the debut film of director Quentin Tarrantino. While its not a masterpiece like his later effort Pulp Fiction. For a first time effort coming from a video store clerk who didn't go to film school, this is a remarkable achievement in the world of independent cinema.
The storyline is simple. Crime lord, Joe Cabot and his son "Nice Guy" Eddie have arranged a diamond heist. To cover their tracks, they hire several associates who don't know each other personally and thus can't give information out in case they get arrested. These associates are Mr White (played by Harvy Keitel), Mr Pink (played by Steve Buscemi), Mr Orange (Tim Roth), Mr Blonde (Michael Madson), Mr Brown (in a cameo by Quentin Tarrantino) and Mr Blue (played by real life former criminal Eddie Bunker). The heist immediately fails ending with a massacre that leaves Brown and Blue dead, Orange has been shot, leaving it to others to figure out who snitched them. What makes the plot interesting is not in the story itself but how it's told. When discussing mainstream cinema, Andy Warhol said that "All the interesting bits of a film are left in the cutting room floor". Reservoir Dogs is the anti thesis of Hollywood filmmaking. Yes, the heist happens but we don't see it. What we get however, is the events that happen before and after, feeding enough details to figure out what happened.
This is Tarrantino's skill as both story teller and director, he can make details or characters we don't even see seem significant. Part of this is easily attributed to the excellent script. This is where the dialogue deserves a special mention. In an ordinary film, the dialogue is typically used just to explain the plot to the audience. Tarrantino breaks this rule by letting his characters converse from Brown's graphic explanation of Madonna's "Like a Virgin" to the humorous interaction between Eddie and Blonde. By avoiding the usual traps that plague Hollywood films, Tarrantino manages to make a movie solely dedicated to its characters and their knee jerk reactions to the heist.
Raising the mark even further for the film is the carefully chosen ensemble cast. Harvey Keitel is superb as Mr White. His skills shine in the films early scenes where he shows his empathy with the dying Mr Orange. One might say that this portrayal is almost the exact opposite of the typical hardened criminal.
Michael Madson, whilst having a limited screen time delivers the films most infamous scene as Mr Blonde, a psychotic criminal who is both brutal and cool. His dry deadpan delivery sets up most of the films tension. Perhaps the most memorable performance however goes to Steve Buscemi as Mr Pink. Out of the entire cast or characters, Pink is the most interesting which is ironic given that he is the only character we know nothing about. Buscemi manic performance proves equal match for Pinks loyalty and concerns about what is "professional" in the crime world. It is the films finest and most articulated performance. Reservoir Dogs is still not perfect though and I wouldn't recommend it to all people. For starters, Tim Roth's performance as Mr Orange while strong suffers greatly from his constantly slipping vernacular. You won't be sure is he's Italian American Mafioso, a street wise kid or simply a whiny brat. Thankfully, his most of his dialogue is kept to minimum as he spends much of his screen time lying in a pool of blood. Secondly the level of violence in this movie is bloody and gratuitous, peaking at the torture scene which was reportedly disturbing enough to prompt several people to leave the theatre. Yes the film is violent, but in the stylized way of the Hong Kong films that inspired it. Thirdly, the film is full of enough profanity laden dialogue to fill a text book. I don't actually mind it though, as it makes sense given that these characters are p*ssed off at the failure of such a carefully planned heist. But if you cant stomach excessive bad language, then isn't the film for you. These arguments should not be seen as detractors to the film though. Would I recommend Reservoir Dogs? That depends. If you're a cinephile, a pop culture fanatic or just want to see a refreshing film, by all means do. If however you're a concerned parent who wants to see something with the children or someone who cant stand such graphic violence and language, then avoid it all costs. Make no mistake though, this is a fantastic film that paved the way for the way for the career of a talented director.