Quentin Tarantino fanatic that I am, of course I saw this on Christmas Day upon its release.
I’ve been hearing the buzz about this film for about a year and a half–read the screenplay and saw Tarantino and most of the cast at this year’s San Diego Comic Con:
And finally, the day came today.
I went there this afternoon and they were sold out. Went home, bought tickets online, and then went back [early], nabbed my seat and settled in.
Now, anyone who hasn’t been under a rock knows that the film is about a slave (Jaime Foxx) who is freed by a German bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to help with a bounty, of course, who later in turn helps him find his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington)–a German speaking slave.
I refuse to give away any details that you can’t see in a trailer, because if you’re like me and can’t wait to see this film, then you want to be surprised while watching. And I guarantee there will be some [major] surprises. I’d give it 3 to 3.5 stars out of four. If I hadn’t seen “Inglorious Basterds,” I’d have given it a four. That being said, if I were to rate this films against other films this year, I’d give it four out of four, and put it in my top films list for the year (which will be out before the new year).
This film is a mash-up of Spaghetti Westerns meets the Antebellum South. If you know anything about slavery, then the happenings in this film shouldn’t surprise you. Yes, there is use of the “N” word, but not gratuitously so. The violence slaps you in the face, sure, but I can’t say that I found that gratuitous either, particularly so given the subject matter (and also given that it’s a Tarantino film).
That being said, I know that at least one couple (non-black) walked out of the theater about two-thirds of the way in (the movie was almost three hours). I know that there have been some media attention around this film in a negative light, and some of black Hollywood is coming out against it. All this without having seen it and/or refusing to see it. Let me make this abundantly clear, boys and girls: They are wrong. All I can say is, see it for yourself, and then judge.
I saw this recently and I thought it was very entertaining. Kerry looked beautiful, although sorely underused. When speculating about the film last year and upon hearing about her addition to the cast, I thought (and many others did too) that her part as Broom Hilda would be bulked up or rewritten. By what I saw nothing was changed, which is interesting.
Overall, Jamie’s performance was adequate skirting the lines of good. Chrisoph was great as usual. Leonardo was surprisingly good but in that campy way. This wasn’t Tarantino’s best and I agree that it was subpar to Inglorious Basterds. Still, a fun ride at the theater.
Part of her being underused, I think, was in due part to the fact that the movie was cut tremendously. Tarantino has said that if he had done the full script, it would have been a five hour film. I think we’ll get more backstory on Broomhilda once the comic (based on the full script) comes out 😀