The Hateful Eight

Grade: B+

Quentin Tarantino’s new film The Hateful Eight left me muttering “Damn – just damn.” I’ve said before and will likely say again and again that I don’t think he is capable of making a boring movie. TH8 is anything but boring. It is absorbing, exhausting, at times thrilling, and at times funny – absolutely everything you’d expect from Tarantino. This may arguably be his grisliest and most violent. The sound effects are quite believable – almost too convincing. We never miss a single choking sound, or the spurting out of blood from either gunshot wounds or the characters who vomit it. I felt drained at the end, and I almost had to laugh at every twist that made things worse and worse and worse. Just as the majority of his Reservoir Dogs took place at the warehouse, an equally significant chunk of The Hateful Eight is at one location, which makes it feel like a filmed play. Not necessarily a bad thing. The stellar ensemble is more than up for painting the picture for us. Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Dern, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Channing Tatum, Walton Goggins, and everyone else in the small cast act up a storm here, but it’s Tim Roth and Michael Madsen (Mr. Orange and Mr. Blonde reunited after all these years) who do the most scenery-chewing. Roth has a twirlable villain’s mustache, and Madsen Nick Noltes himself through his performance. As shocking as it can be, I got the feeling Tarantino still wanted to tell a story, and the dialogue, while lengthy and talky, is sharp. Numerous “let’s do it this way” conversations pile up, with deals made, then counter-deals, then new deals based on recent unexpected changes. There’s a lot to admire here, but it is probably his darkest journey. One thing I missed here was a likable character. There is no Django, Jules, Vincent, Bride, or Mr. Pink. There is nobody to root for in The Hateful Eight, but it ultimately doesn’t matter. In the last 20 minutes or so, I asked myself “what do you hope happens?” My answer? I don’t know. I don’t care. This is so ludicrous, but captivating. I just want to ride this out and see how it ends.

Grade: B+