Inglorious self-indulgence

Rating: 5/10 (8 May 2016)

In all honesty, between the first-rate cast, the lavish presentation and the fact that it's a high-profile western, my hopes were right up there with "The Hateful Eight". To those ends, it's pretty great. Thick with mountain atmosphere, nice photography and Tarantino's zeal for violence. My problem is the pacing. The movie is overloaded by setup that takes forever, and the patience is rewarded with more sluggishness. I like the idea of backstories unfurling during a snowed-in stopover, and the cast is a varied roster of seasoned players going to town on that dialog (Goggins, Russell and Jackson, especially), but, truth be told, it's one of the longest 3-hour movies I've ever seen.
Actually, a good way to think about this is comparing it to "Reservoir Dogs" but without any energy.
This just wasn't doing it for me.
5/10