A great debut, but not a classic.

Rating: 9/10 (13 August 2019)

I watched Reservoir Dogs only recently, while having matches everything else except Jackie Brown. It is a great film, not one of Tarantino's best, or the best of all time, but still worth spending time on it.
The acting is top notch. Harvey Keitel was the best among the five, with a compassionate layer underneath the professional criminal experience that he obviously has. Steve Buscemi was also fabulous. Camerawork was very solid, and I love how most of the movie centers on there being a long-drawn Mexican standoff of sorts. The cross-blaming, self-doubting progresses the plot forwards very well, and the pacing is done really well. The movie has a perfect length.
However, this film does have flaws. The dialogue, while in much of the movie very stylish, sometimes feels hammy. QT could have done away with many lines, because a lot of it was telling us the same thing again and again. Of course, that has its own context, but it feels too much. The dialogue style is a precursor to how Pulp Fiction would be structured (a movie that, like most people, i consider one of the best ever made). But, even when the gangsters are talking about Pam Grier, it feels much inferior to the whole legendary Quarter-Pounder conversation in the first scene in Pulp Fiction, and underwhelming in general. The flashbacks were not all effective either, especially the one for Mr Blonde.
Granted, it was QT's debut, so it would be a little immature and excessive. It also serves as a great story about trust and compassion, because you're hooked to the end. When the end comes, you will be in disbelief, as to "Why did he say that?" But, it will make sense eventually. It warrants a watch for sure, if you want to know how it all started, especially since it was an indie film.