# Reservoir Dogs

| Reservoir Dogs |
| --- |
| Directed by | Quentin Tarantino |
| Written by | Quentin Tarantino |
| Produced by | Lawrence Bender |
| Starring | * Harvey Keitel
* Tim Roth
* Chris Penn
* Steve Buscemi
* Lawrence Tierney
* Michael Madsen
 |
| Cinematography | Andrzej Sekuła |
| Edited by | Sally Menke |
| Production companies | * Live America Inc.
* Dog Eat Dog Productions
 |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
| Release dates | * January 21, 1992 (1992-01-21) (Sundance)
* October 9, 1992 (1992-10-09) (United States)
 |
| Running time | 99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English  |
| Budget | $1.2–1.5 million |
| Box office | $2.8 million (North America) |

Reservoir Dogs is a 1992 American crime drama thriller movie written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. It stars Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Chris Penn and Steve Buscemi. It is the first movie directed by Tarantino and is about the events before and after a jewelry store robbery that went wrong. The movie was released on October 23, 1992. The title, and promo shots associated with the movie, were a take on the violent Sam Peckinpah movie, Straw Dogs. Although *Reservoir Dogs* failed at the theater, it found new life after being released on VHS and DVD, quickly becoming a cult classic.

## Plot

The movie shows the events before and after a robbery at a jewelry shop in Los Angeles, California, that went wrong. The men are given nicknames with colours so that they do not know each others names; Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), Mr. Blue (Eddie Bunker), Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), and Mr. White (Harvey Keitel). They work for a gangster Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) and his son, "Nice Guy" Eddie (Chris Penn).

The robbery goes wrong and several of the men are killed, and Mr. Orange is shot and bleeding. The rest of the men return to the hideout and talk about what went wrong. Mr. Blonde has captured a police officer, Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz) and beat him to try to get an answer. Mr. Blonde tries to torture the police officer while the rest of the men are away but is killed by Mr. Orange who is actually an undercover police officer.

The rest of the men argue and are in a Mexican standoff and are all shot. Mr. Pink, who hid from the shootout, steals the diamonds and runs away.

## Cast

### The Reservoir Dogs

* Harvey Keitel as Larry Dimmick, a.k.a. Mr. White
* Tim Roth as Freddy Newandyke, a.k.a. Mr. Orange
* Michael Madsen as Vic Vega, a.k.a. Mr. Blonde
* Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie Cabot
* Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink
* Lawrence Tierney as Joe Cabot
* Eddie Bunker as Mr. Blue
* Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown

### Others/cameos

* Randy Brooks as Holdaway
* Kirk Baltz as Marvin Nash
* Rich Turner as Sheriff #1
* David Steen as Sheriff #2
* Tony Cosmo as Sheriff #3
* Stevo Poliy as Sheriff #4
* Michael Sottile as Teddy
* Robert Ruth as Shot Cop
* Lawrence Bender as Young Cop
* Linda Kaye as Shocked Woman
* Suzanne Celeste as Shot Woman
* Steven Wright (voice) as the K-Billy DJ

## Critical reaction

At the movie's release at the Sundance Film Festival, movie critic Jami Bernard of the *New York Daily News* compared the effect of *Reservoir Dogs* to that of the 1895 movie *L'Arrivée d'un Train en Gare de la Ciotat*, where audiences watched a moving train approaching the camera and ran away frightened. Bernard claimed that *Reservoir Dogs* had a similar effect and people were not ready for it. Vincent Canby of the *New York Times* enjoyed the cast and the use of non-linear storytelling. He similarly complimented Tarantino's directing and liked the fact that he did not often use close-ups in the movie. Kenneth Turan of the *Los Angeles Times* also enjoyed the movie and the acting, particularly that of Buscemi, Tierney and Madsen, and said "Tarantino's palpable enthusiasm, his unapologetic passion for what he's created, reinvigorates this venerable plot and, mayhem aside, makes it involving for longer than you might suspect."

Roger Ebert was less enthusiastic; he felt that the script could have been better and said that the movie "feels like it's going to be terrific", but Tarantino's script does not have much curiosity about the characters. He also stated that "[Tarantino] has an idea, and trusts the idea to drive the plot." Ebert gave the movie two and a half stars out of four also claiming that he enjoyed it, and that it was a very good movie from a talented director, like other critics, he enjoyed the cast, but stated "I liked what I saw, but I wanted more".

*Reservoir Dogs* has received a lot of criticism for its strong violence and language. One particular scene that viewers did not like was Michael Madsen cutting off the police officer's ear, and Madsen himself reportedly had a great deal of difficulty finishing the scene especially after Kirk Baltz ad-libbed the desperate plea "I've got a little kid at home". Many people have left theaters during the movie and Tarantino commented at the time:

>
> It happens at every single screening. For some people the violence, or the rudeness of the language, is a mountain they can't climb. That's OK. It's not their cup of tea. But I am affecting them. I wanted that scene to be disturbing.
>
>

 During a screening of the movie at a Film Festival in Barcelona, fifteen people walked out, including horror movie director Wes Craven and special effects artist Rick Baker. Baker later told Tarantino to take the walk out as a "compliment" and explained that he found the violence unnerving because of its heightened sense of realism.

Critic John Hartl compared the ear-cutting scene to the shower murder scene in *Psycho* and Tarantino to David Lynch. He furthermore explored parallels between *Reservoir Dogs* and *Glengarry Glen Ross*. After this movie, Tarantino was also compared to Martin Scorsese, Sam Peckinpah, John Singleton, Gus Van Sant, and Abel Ferrara. For its nonlinear storyline, *Reservoir Dogs* has also often been compared to *Rashomon*. Critic James Berardinelli was of a similar opinion; he complimented both the cast and Tarantino's dialogue writing abilities. Hal Hinson of *The Washington Post* was also enthusiastic about the cast, complimenting the movie on its "deadpan sense of humor". Todd McCarthy called the movie "undeniably impressive" and was of the opinion that it was influenced by *Mean Streets*, *Goodfellas* and *The Killing*.

## Other websites

* *Reservoir Dogs* on IMDb
* *Reservoir Dogs* at AllMovie