Review: THE HATEFUL EIGHT

     At this point in Quentin Tarantino's career, we've accepted the fact that he will never make another masterpiece like Pulp Fiction. And we've accepted that this is okay, as long as he entertains. And so far he's held up his end of the bargain. He doesn't make great films any more, but he does make interesting and entertaining ones, and I'm glad to say this his newest, the Agatha Christie-esque "locked room" Western, The Hateful Eight, is better than his last film, Django Unchained. It's not a great film but it has all the classic Tarantino trademarks that will make his fans feel right at home.
     The story is pretty basic. Kurt Russell is a bounty hunter taking his bounty, a murderess, played with ferocious glee by Jennifer Jason Lee, to be hanged. On the way to town he gets stuck at a general store type of establishment while waiting for a blizzard to pass. Also at this general store are an assorted cadre of characters that may or may not be who they say they are. And so the film, at just short of three hours, takes place in one room.
     I think most casual film goers will be bored to tears with this film and its premise, but I was mostly riveted. To enjoy this film you probably have to be a fan of Tarantino (the long scenes of dialogue, the buckets of blood) and a fan of whodunnit stories. The one caveat to the Agatha Christie-style mysteries is that the ending is usually or should be an ingenious completed puzzle revealed with awe. It should be a twist in the best sense, breathing new life to what came before and knocking it out of the park with a big reveal. The Hateful Eight does not have any sort of brilliant or smart payoff, but the climax is at least saved by a wild, kinetic bloodbath that has to be seen to be believed. And while it doesn't exactly have any great twists nor is the ultimate story and revelations anything truly interesting, Tarantino has turned this all into a good film. There's a number of reasons why, but the best reason is that this is first class film making. The film was shot in old-school 70mm "wide-screen." This makes it look grainy, colorful, spacious, and epic. The film was also scored by old-school, Spaghetti Western maestro Ennio Morricone, and the music in this is dramatic, full-bodied, raw, and perfect. The shots of snow-peaked mountains in the distance are breathtakingly cool and the gun-battles and carnage that emerge in the confines of the general store are precisely filmed while also being guttural and brutal and sick. It's a beautifully disgusting film.
     Kurt Russell is the main character but Samuel L. Jackson and especially Walter Goggins steal the show. Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern and Demian Bichir don't really have a lot to work with here, and Tim Roth is a bit too much of a cartoon show-off (akin to how annoyingly silly Christoph Waltz was in Django Unchained). Jackson, though, is on fire here, gleeful in the debauchery. And Goggins, probably best known for his role on TV's Justified, is the perfect anecdote for the gloomy, often quiet, slow burn of a film.
     And that's the one big problem with the film: the pace. It's slow, it's methodical. It doesn't help that there hasn't been any interesting dialogue exchanges in Tarantino's scripts in years. Remember in Reservoir Dogs the great bits about tipping waitress's and Madonna's Like a Virgin? Or in Pulp Fiction the scene about the Royale with cheese? There's no dialogue that fun or fresh in The Hateful Eight, and that's one reason Tarantino doesn't make great movies anymore. But with one thing gone, another emerges. The Hateful Eight might be his best looking picture and one that proves that he's working at the top of his game in terms of directing.
     He may not be the best writer anymore but Tarantino is still, love it or hate it, a blood thirsty son of a bitch. The big Hamlet climax will have your adrenaline surging, your blood pumping, and your jaw probably on the floor. He may not make great movies anymore, but he can still put on a hell of a show. ***