Tarantino's best script, one of the best casts ever

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2005)

Go to the main details page for this film. Then look at the cast. Have you ever seen a better group of actors in one place? I know Christian Slater doesn't have a rep as a great actor, but in this film he is. He stands out above everyone else, and that is high praise indeed when you're comparing him to the likes of Christopher Walken and Dennis Hopper. Actually, speaking of Hopper and Walken, they share one scene together, and it is one of the best I have ever scene. I say this with no exaggeration. It's impossible to look away from. The film is worth watching just for this scene.
Christian Slater's character is cool. He works in a comic-book store, has a fixation with Elvis Presley, and on his birthday every year he goes to the cinema alone to watch a Martial Arts Triple Bill. Not exactly a standard definition of cool. But he is. He's the sort of character you'd like to be. I can't work out why though, but he's great.
I'm not sure what else I can say about this film. I try to be a harsh marker of films, so I only give films that I think are literally perfect 10/10. Which means that only Shawshank Redemption, the Usual Suspects and Return of the King are rated as a 10 by me. But honestly, this film is as good as any of them*. You have to see this movie.
*Except for the Shawshank Redemption. That film deserves about 17/10. Unfortunately that might make the universe implode through some paradox or other.