the first time you can truly say that he's overdone it

Rating: Null/10 (10 January 2016)

From the amusingly warped mind of Quentin Tarantino comes this combination western/whodunit/character study set in post-Civil War era Wyoming. In the midst of a brutal blizzard, the titular strangers seek shelter at a local tavern but it soon becomes clear that not everyone is what they seem as startling revelations come to the fore. By now you know that whenever you hear this director's name and get pulled into his world that nothing will go quite the way you expect it to, but despite a flavorful cast of characters, vivid setting, and the expected scintillating dialogue, this is a surprisingly unmemorable effort; begins with an effectively tense and teasing build-up, but goes on way too long, with a final act that's relentlessly (and needlessly) violent, ugly, and mean, instead of twistedly fun like so many of the director's previous efforts. Playing out like some weird amalgam of Reservoir Dogs, Django Unchained, and Clue, this is self-indulgent to a fault, and doesn't provide a very resounding resolution given the excruciating length of time it takes to tell this story. **½