Reservoir Dogs

Quentin Tarantino, well known for making Pulp Fiction, created a brilliant gangster film in 1992 called Reservoir Dogs. It has a simple enough premise of six men who rob a jewel store. However, it turns into a bloodbath when the police show up early, and the remained robbers realize that one of their number is a cop. Instead of focusing on the robbery, Tarantino (in his typical non-linear storytelling) delves into the nature of man, contrasting cowardice with bravery, logic with psychotic, and truth with lies.

Undoubtedly one of most gripping gangster movie created since the Sting, Reservoir Dogs contains a ridiculous amount of swearing and violence. Collectively, the characters use the word fuck 269 times in 99 minutes, meaning 2.71 uses per minute. If that isn’t impressive, then I don’t know what is. Furthermore, this movie to notable for it’s graphic depiction of a torture scene and the deaths of multiple characters. In holding to most gangster movies, everyone dies at the end, which is part of the reason it’s so awesome. The other reason it’s so awesome is its dialogue. Most of the reason I enjoy Tarantino movie is that fact that 75% of the dialogue has absolutely nothing to do with the plot or the characters. It’s mostly a clever commentary on current events from a completely different perspective that is nonetheless surprisingly accurate. But what really makes the movie so moving is the raw emotions that the extremely talented ensemble cast displays. From high to low, all the actors are unrivalled in their skill, especially Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, and Michael Madsen.

At the end of the day, Reservoir Dogs is not appropriate for those weenies who can’t take a little vulgar language or extreme violence. However, if you revel in fascinating plotlines, amazing acting, and clever wordplay, than Quentin Tarantino is your man. If you like this movie, go watch anything else he’s made (Wikipedia to the rescue) or wander on over to Christopher Nolan.