Cast: Tarantino has that special kind of clout where he can cast anyone to play any role. Everyone is eating up every last beat they get to play. Jamie Foxx is solid, even if I've never understood the big deal about him. Christoph Waltz is as smarmy as even but given a conscience he never had in Inglourious Basterds. Leonardo Dicaprio is letting out the scoundrel he never gets to play. Samuel L Jackson is, well, Sammy Jackson playing a two-faced slave. Can't say there's a lot of nuance to him, but it there ever anymore? I guess Kerry Washington is the next biggest character and her part's pretty small. All the smaller roles are exactly as good as they need to be. What more is there to say? No one blew me away.
Plot: Here's the thing about Spaghetti westerns, they can be very long, and, true to form, so was this. Despite that, I was amazed how much of the advertised plot was blown through in the first 30 minutes (maybe it was longer, but it sure felt quick). It paced itself well. I did kind of lose track of the point about midway through, and I never had a sense why it had to be so long. It often felt like they scenes existed to laugh at racism without any additional function*.
*Not to say I like racism, but it was almost to crowd-pleasingly broad.
Elephant in the Room: What if I don't normally like Tarantino movies? This won't change your mind. I came from the camp of "I don't get what the big deal about him is", so I'm the worst person to ask though. It's identifiable as one of his movies and better than similarly "historical" Basterds.
To Sum Things Up:
I liked this more than I expected. As someone constantly looking for an in-road to the Tarantino camp, this came closer than anything of his I can think of to getting me to see what the fuss is about. The acting is unique and he has an entertaining way to frame his shots. The dialogue is fun as is his way of taking something like violence and kicking it up to 11 while still being funny. In the end though, I'm going to inevitably be sitting in a room with someone talking about how Tarantino is a genius and this is another of his masterpieces and, simply put, I didn't find it much better than Casa de mi Padre that I watched the night before.
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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