Reservoir Dogs

Well, accompanying all the shits and fucks(in the screenplay) is a really startlingly violent movie I hadn't watched in some time. I picked up a special edition of RESERVOIR DOGS for like 10 bucks and started it up tonight(May 26, 2010). Must say I was quite impressed with this trendsetter which was the catalyst for Tarantino's PULP FICTION.

I was taken aback by long conversation pieces between Mr. Pink(Steve Buschemi)and Mr. White(Harvey Keitel)while Mr. Orange(Tim Roth)is bleeding out on the floor of a filthy warehouse from a gun shot to the gut. Or, how we see Mr. Pink and Mr. White discussing their belief of a bad apple among their criminal group to psychotic Mr. Blonde(Michael Madsen)who had tipped off police where the location of their diamond heist would be located.

Interesting enough, and this was something I had forgotten, is that we never see the big act which fuels the film's intense exchanges within a warehouse which was the place the group, assembled by a businessman named Joe(Lawrence Tierney)and Joe's son Eddie(Christopher Penn), was to meet after the robbery was completed..the robbery itself which resulted in Blonde unloading a round on a number of people in the bank, as the group fled with cops all over, leading to plenty of dead cops including two of Joe's crew(including Mr. Brown portrayed by Quentin himself).

What I also found fascinating was how we oftentimes have our attention averted elsewhere even as Mr. Orange slowly lays on a floor passed out, death on it's way to fetch him. A constant is Mr. White's loyalty to Orange, how he cares for his condition, even if he must attend to other matters which require his participation. Also, neat, is the highly memorable torture of the cop, and how QT turns away from Blonde's taken an ear off with a razor, yet the cringe-factor remains because we know what the man is going through.

Like in all his movies, there are established set pieces featuring men discussing things in detail and we get their distinctive personalities played out such as how Pink doesn't believe in tipping waitresses and how Blonde never ratted out Joe, spending 5 years in prison without betraying his boss, and how such loyalty is questioned by a blood-drenched Orange, needing an angle when the boys find Blonde's body shot full of holes.

QT gives Tierney plenty of room to establish his Joe, in scenes as an angered father figure always having a hard time tolerating all the immature behavior of his "kids". Their bickering over who gets what "colorful" title is especially an example of Joe's inability to withstand their childish blather.

Look, this movie has actors I love to watch on screen and seeing Keitel and Buschemi having it out over who is secretly a cop or snitch among them produced some wonderful tension I couldn't help but lap up. Madsen, without losing his cool reserve, calls out anyone who bellyaches about his personality(or way of handling things), and his dancing to a song as he tells the cop that he will be torturing him for the fun of it is certainly hard to forget.. as is his later act of pooring gasoline over a cop he torments with a grin, delighting in the idea of setting him on fire.

I imagine this is quite off-putting to a great a many folks, as it should be considering the men we are spending time with, but the way QT develops each character and how he arranges all these memorable set pieces left quite a mark on me.