Quentin Tarantino's eighth feature film could not be a better fit for its title. Literally it's the writer/director's eighth movie, and the characters in it could not be more spiteful towards their circumstances. Seriously, I've never seen a film where the storyteller treats his characters with this much cynicism.
To a certain extent, The Hateful Eight feels like the film that Tarantino has been building to his entire career, even if that means borrowing way too much from his previous work.
The story follows a coterie of cretins holed up in a remote Wyoming cabin as they wait for a blizzard to pass. There's John Ruth (Kurt Russell), a ruthless bounty hunter seeking the reward for Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), the unpredictable woman he has in tow. On the way to the cabin, Ruth's stagecoach picks up passengers Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), a fellow bounty hunter, and "Sheriff" Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), a traveler who purports to be the new sheriff of Red Rock -- Ruth's ultimate destination. When they take a pit stop at the cabin, they meet caretaker Bob the Mexican (Demian Bichir), Red Rock hangman Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), outlaw Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), and former Confederate general Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern).
And these, ladies and gentleman, are your "hateful eight." Or so it would seem until Major Warren begins to suspect that some among their ranks are in cahoots with Daisy.
That's essentially the same exact plot as Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs in which a group of criminals take refuge in an abandoned warehouse after a botched heist and suspect that one among them is a police informant.
Other intertextual Tarantino references include the facts that the film is set in a world very similar to that of Django Unchained and also features the sadistic violence and Looney Tunes-humor of Inglourious Basterds.
In truth, The Hateful Eight doesn't have a single original bone in its body. That, combined with the fact that there are no redeeming qualities to any single character in the film, makes this a missed mark in an otherwise exciting career for Tarantino.
If I had seen the film as it was originally conceived (as a "whodunit" chamber piece for the stage), it would've blown me away. As a movie, I can't help but think I've seen it dozens of times before.
Performances are wonderful all around, with Russell and Goggins standing out. Goggins, one of this generation's best television actors, finally gets a movie role with substance that allows him to show his talent. Fans of Justified wishing for Goggins to find another project that takes advantage of his underrated skill as an actor should be pleased with The Hateful Eight.
As an endnote, I was unable to make it to one of the 70mm "roadshow" screenings. I wish I had, as there is a moment halfway through the film that delineates events that would have taken place during an "intermission." Without the context of having fifteen minutes to get up and use the restroom, that part feels a bit awkward. Aside from that, my untrained eye could discern no difference in the advantage of using 70mm projection over the digital projection which was used for my screening. So fret not if you missed out on the gimmick like I did.
C+
No comments:
Post a Comment