To Trust a Thief Or To Not Trust a Thief....That is the Question.

Rating: Null/10 (10 July 2004)

Earth-shattering debut for writer/director Quentin Tarantino as he weaves a wicked and demented tale of five strangers (Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Steve Buscemi, Michael Madsen and Tarantino himself) who are recruited by a mastermind (Lawrence Tierney) and his son (Chris Penn) to pull off a daring diamond heist in Los Angeles. The five have never worked together and really know nothing about each other. When the heist turns into a fire-fight with cops out on the streets of downtown L.A. it becomes obvious that someone is really an undercover cop. But which one? Tarantino knew way back in 1992 how to eliminate the bindings of straight story-telling and time elements as he uses flashbacks and sequence-less methods to get his points across. "Reservoir Dogs" is a really great achievement for the genre because it was trail-blazing and unique for its era (and it stands the test of time very well). Tarantino would use this feature as a jump-board to do even better work ("Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown"). Love him or hate him, Tarantino is a highly gifted writer and director that knows exactly what he is doing. A stunning and thunderous achievement. 4.5 out of 5 stars.