Well, it is about time a film made me tired of hearing the f-word! In fact, I don't think I have ever heard so many four-letter terms as I have in Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino's first feature film. I realize that this is how the people talk in this film, but there is only so much one person can take. Normally, I will be able to have enough composure to sit through an entire film without being bothered by the language used. Unfortunately, Reservoir Dogs has shown me that after a film crosses the 200 "f-word" mark, I have to leave the room or turn it off. My drama teacher complained that Fargo used too much language. I wonder what she thought of this film.
However, that is not saying that Reservoir Dogs isn't a bad film. It's a skillfully made criminal caper that needed a better script. I've seen this film several times, but no matter what kind of mood I'm in, it shoves me into a state of depression. Perhaps it's the subject matter. One of the things I found disappointing was that I couldn't care for any of the characters. Throughout the entire ordeal, I didn't care if any of them got shot or killed. And that's probably because they are mean-spirited criminals who kills cops and innocent bystanders. An example of a film that has criminals that you do care about is Set It Off, and that film shows the trials of four black women in a white male dominated world. Reservoir Dogs, on the other hand, shows a group of criminals, whom we never really get to know, as a bank robbing goes terribly wrong.
The film opens with a hilarious discussion around a table at a diner as the camera circles the table. There are only a few writers that can write realistic dialogue and make it humorous at the same time. Maybe that shows something: realism is humorous. Well, not so in this film. The table talk is wonderful, but soon the film enters the robbery plot and the story shifts into a grizzly and extremely violent shoot-out. However, Tarantino is able to add something to this film that so many others lack: originality. Watching the film is almost like watching a tennis match because the story shifts from present to flashbacks. In fact, the first scene of the robbery occurs after the robbery while two of the criminals are getting away. Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) is in the backseat bleeding from a gunshot wound. Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) is driving.
The use of colors is an essential element of the plot. Six criminals are assigned six different colors and they are instructed not to reveal their names to each other. The six are: Mr. Blue (Edward Bunker, who is in the film about two times), Mr. Orange, Mr. White, Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), and Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino). However, the main story revolves around Orange, Pink, White, and Blonde. Also included are Nice Guy Eddie (Chris Penn) and Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney), the ringleader of the group. In fact, this film has one of the best casts I have seen in a long time. All the actors do a terrific job, especially Harvey Keitel and Michael Madsen.
In fact, the acting isn't the best thing in the film. While it is powerful, the style and direction is what makes Reservoir Dogs better than most criminal films. Tarantino debuts with a terrifically stylish film which makes the violence and language bearable. And still, the violence is quite gruesome and can make some people queasy. This has some of the most realistic violence I have seen in a film, especially a bloody shooting involving a man in a chair. The best, and most memorable, scene comes towards the end of the film. This scene has been discussed and talked about, and yet it still puzzles me as to how it happened. Four of the main characters have their guns drawn and pointed at each other. And even while I watched it in slow motion, I could never tell how Nice Guy Eddie was shot. Perhaps Mr. Pink did it and we never saw him do it. I'll never know, unless someone tells me.
Reservoir Dogs is rated R for extreme, bloody violence, gore, language (which is almost an understatement), and overall mean-spiritedness. This is certainly not a film for conservative people. This film almost reminds me of Pink Flamingos, mainly because it uses shock value to jump start a director's career. It's not quite as shocking, but in its own way, it's almost worse. If you have the stomach to watch all the violent acts and the stamina to sustain all the profanities, then this movie should please you. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able.