Review of Reservoir Dogs (1992) by William S — 11 Feb 2014

Quinton Terentino's Reservoir Dogs is one of the most blood soaked, shockingly violent, and wildly entertaining movies I've ever seen. I honestly don't know if I've ever seen anything like it, and I'm certain nothing like this had been made before. It's brutal yet witty, with the trappings of a cheap exploitation film but the heart of a classic noir.

What Terantino has done is to take the basic formula for a heist movie, crank up the violence by a factor of ten, and turn it on its head. Rather than taking us through the careful planning, the daring heist, and the inevitable final act in which everything unravels, Reservoir Dogs jumps straight ahead to the bloody aftermath. One guy's dead, another's missing, and another is bleeding out from a stomach wound. The only thing the robbers can be sure of is that someone set them up. Now they've gotta find out who- if they don't kill each other first.

The amazing thing about this movie is that even though there are bullets aplenty and blood everywhere, it's not the action, but rather the characters and dialogue that drive it. Nearly half the movie takes place in an abandoned warehouse, where the main characters try to figure out what the hell went wrong and what they're gonna do about it. Much of this movie's success is due to the superb cast, Including Harvey Keitel as the veteran, professional Mr. White, --- -- as newcomer Mr. Orange, --- as the utterly psychotic Mr. Blond, and the priceless Steve Bulsami as the sniveling, slightly neurotic Mr. Pink.

Another of the film's strengths is its dialogue; key when most scenes involve the characters standing around talking to- or screaming at- each other. Terentino has managed to give every conversation a comic edge, but without tipping over into the realm of farce. Highly instructive is the opening scene at the diner, where the wise guys discuss the meaning of Madonna's songs and the importance of tipping. None of this has anything to do with the plot, but it sets the tone and reveals much about the characters and their personalities, especially Mr. Pink.

Or take the scene later on in which Mr. Blond sings and dances along to Joe Tex's I Gotcha- while dousing a tied up cop with gasoline! We've been hearing from the others that this guy is absolutely psycho; it would appear that they've seriously understated the case. It would also seem that Terentino must also be nuts to come up with material this demented.

In scene after scene he manages to crank up the tension, paranoia, and bloodshed to a level that approaches self-parody. It's shocking, it's over the top, and it makes you want to laugh, then leaves you wondering if you're all there. It's almost, but not quite in the realm of satire. It's funny, gory, and absolutely unbelievable. In short, it's everything you'd expect from Quinton Terentino.