I’m not sure if Tarantino has mellowed or improved or reined in what before felt like too-scattered, too-off-key, too-*too* something films, but I’ve very much enjoyed his last two flicks, this most recent being The Hateful Eight. Please don’t misunderstand me: this is still very much a Tarantino film; his signature is all over it (just like his cameo appearance confirms his part in the movie). Oddities abound. Characters are complex and interesting and even funny (and they develop with rich dialogue, requiring one to pay attention). And the blood—-oh, yes, there’s the blood. The depth, though, reaches to a level that works for me. (Much like Django Unchained did a few of years ago.)
The movie takes place under the umbrella of a western, mostly in a remote Wyoming cabin in the depth of winter. It’s cold. A stagecoach is traveling with bounty hunters taking in their captured bounty. The coach stops for a time at this location, and the puzzle builds, unfolds, builds some more, and, of course, erupts violently—with clever twists and mysteries sprinkled throughout. What Tarantino also does well is balance: amid this story that sits on the edge of outlaws and violence and mystery, humor keeps peaking around the corner, smiling mischievously and interjecting laugh-out-loud moments, often feeling horribly inappropriate, but often just plain funny.
It is a long movie (nearly three hours; I was able to use my Run Pee app for the best time for movie companions to get us another beer). At one moment, it felt like it was going to be too long. But right about that time, another twist developed, and the rest of the movie flowed nicely. The background score likewise kept the movie’s pace beautifully.
The cast is a fantastic ensemble that worked seamlessly together (Samuel L. Jackson, Kirk Russel; Bruce Dern, among them). The shining star, though, is Jennifer Jason Leigh. She owns her role as Daisy, and she delivers the twists and mysteries with spot-on ability to reveal just enough to hook the audience to know there’s more, but to have no clear idea what that more is until such is revealed.
Was this four or five stars? I’m torn. But I’m rounding down here, in spite of how much I gush above. The film entertained well. But it did not rise to the level Django did for me. Maybe the cultural and political understory of Django was more powerful for me or more apparent; I do suspect there’s more underneath in Hateful Eight, but it wasn’t something that spoke as clearly to me. (Interestingly, I spoke recently with a friend about “revenge films,” and this fits in that category, with an asterisk. And the political references are here, being a just-after-the-civil-war-film. They just did not have as much punch in their delivery.)
Just remember, this *is* a Tarantino film. There’s blood and gore and violence juxtaposed against humor and wit and even some near-slapstick. If you appreciate his skill in writing and more so behind the camera, you’ll probably like this one too.