Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth and Michael Madsen in the Quentin Tarantino movie ‘Reservoir Dogs’

It is nearly 30-years since Reservoir Dogs (1992), the first feature-length movie directed by Quentin Tarantino, was released in movie theatres. The film depicts events before and after a planned diamond heist from a jewelry store goes terribly wrong. The movie looks into the robbery team, the suspicions among members that ensued, and ultimately a resolution for the team along the way. An impactful point of the story is the stress responses in the points in between.

(In the backseat, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink. From left in front, Harvey Keitel as Mr. White/Larry and Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

An early scene in the narrative for Reservoir Dogs includes introducing members of the team in the period before the heist. A notion for the protection of the members of the team seeking to perform the heist is for nobody to know the names of the other criminals involved. Thus, we meet Mr. Pink as portrayed by Steve Buscemi. We meet Mr. White, whom we later learn to be Larry, as portrayed by Harvey Keitel. We also meet Nice Guy Eddie, as portrayed by Chris Penn, whose role in the larger criminal enterprise allows him to not be named with a color. The film does include some off-color humor that gratuitously disparages African Americans.

(From left, Tim Roth as Mr. Orange/Freddy and Harvey Keitel as Mr. White/Larry in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

Tim Roth portrayed Mr. Orange, who we later learn to be named Freddy. We see these two up-close from the beginning of the movie. Reservoir Dogs is not presented chronologically, which is to say that the background information for characters within the story gets shown in flashbacks to earlier points in time that suggest motivations and depth for the individual characters. That the stories of Mr. Orange and Mr. White are strongly connected and emotionally relevant is clear from the earliest parts of the movie.

(From left, Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde aka Vic and Edward Bunker as Mr. Blue in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

Parts of the heist, including the plans for the getaway after the heist, include Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown and Mr. Blonde / Vic. Edward Bunker portrayed Mr. Blue. The film’s director, Quentin Tarantino, portrayed Mr. Brown. Michael Madsen portrayed Mr. Blonde, who we later learn to be Vic. Arguments ensue after the heist among Mr. Pink and Mr. White about getting medical care for Mr. Orange, who injuries are explained in the course the movie. Distrust runs rampant, yet transforms into something else altogether when Mr. Blonde arrives with kidnapped policeman Marvin Nash.

(From left, Tim Roth as Mr. Orange/Freddy and Kirk Baltz as Marvin Nash in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

Marvin Nash is portrayed by Kirk Baltz. An interesting and brutal scene set to the song Stuck in the Middle with You by Stealers Wheels sees Mr. Blonde confronting a sadistic point-of-view in confronting a bound and immobile Marvin Nash. The commentary of place for Mr. Blonde mixed in among the other criminals participating in the heist gives the scene legs.

(From left, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink, Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie and Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde/Vic in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

It’s a conversation among Mr. Pink, Mr. Blonde, Mr. White, Mr. Orange and Nice Guy Eddie that precedes that planned confrontation of Mr. Blonde and Marvin Nash. It’s Nice Guy Eddie that ultimately brings his father and ringleader, Joe Cabot, into the dance for addressing the crews getaway after the heist. Joe Cabot, as portrayed by Lawrence Tierney, sees the heist at its clearest level as the mastermind of the theft coupled with the criminal with the fullest awareness of the moving parts of the robbery.

(From left and standing are Tim Roth as Mr. Orange/Freddy, Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink and Edward Bunker as Mr. Blue. From left and sitting are Harvey Keitel as Mr. White/Larry, Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown, Lawrence Tierney as Joe Cabot, Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde/Vic and Chris Penn as Nice Guy Eddie in the Quentin Tarantino movie Reservoir Dogs).

The larger story of the outcome of the heist, the disposition of the thieves are supporting characters, and the degree of loyalty and trust that were merited in the situation at hand are revealed. Was one of the robbers a police informant or cop? Were loyalties properly laid? Were the outcomes meted out just or satisfying? The positive reception for the film is best rooted in these questions. I grant Reservoir Dogs as directed by Quentin Tarantino 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, November 3, 2021

Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper and Sandra Bullock in the Jan de Bont movie ‘Speed’

In coming across a list of favorite movies since 1992 attributed to Quentin Tarantino recently, my expectation didn’t immediately think of the Jan de Bont directed movie Speed (1994) starring Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper and Sandra Bullock. The fresh look at the film happily offered more than I remembered.

(From left, Keanu Reeves as Jack Traven and Jeff Daniels as Harry Temple in the Jan de Bont movie Speed).

Working as bomb disposal experts for the Los Angeles, California Police Department‘s SWAT team included Jeff Daniels as Harry Temple and Keanu Reeves as Jack Traven. Our first introduction to these all stars comes when Traven and Temple thwart an attempted extortionist bombing in an elevator.

(Joe Morton as Lieutenant Herb ‘Mac’ McMahon in the Jan de Bont movie Speed).

The averted tragedy takes a pair of unique turns that saves the day twice, resulting in the promotion of Harry Temple following the incident. It was praise from Lieutenant “Mac” McMahon, as portrayed by Joe Morton, that in part sees Harry ascended to detective.

(From left, Dennis Hopper as Howard Payne and Sandra Bullock as Annie Porter in the Jan de Bont movie Speed).

Despite the superior work in averting one disaster, the suspense, action and danger of bomber Howard Payne, as portrayed by Dennis Hopper, has not come to an end with one averted attempt at making death in large numbers. Circumstances represent themselves when Payne reemerges with an attempt to repeat the extortion again. This time, Payne has attached the bomb to a bus that will explode if the bus slows to less than 50 miles per hour. Passengers leaving the bus also prompts an explosion.

(The bus in the Jan de Bont movie Speed).

Passenger Annie Porter, as portrayed by Sandra Bullock, just barely becomes a passenger on the ill-fated bus. Porter is joined with passengers Ortiz and Doug Stephens, portrayed by Carlos Carrasco and Alan Ruck, respectively. The drama of keeping the bus going, with Jack Travern interacting with a second attempt to end Payne’s revenge, become the drama that we witness through the remainder of the film.

(From left, Alan Ruck as Doug Stephens and Carlos Carrasco as Ortiz in the Jan de Bont movie Speed).

Speed offered a solid portion of good versus evil, wrong versus right, suspenseful intrigue that asks you to suspend a degree of disbelief. The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously, and there is suspense for the characters that women and men can find emotionally satisfying. That a love interest of sorts is formed between Traven and Porter is the whip cream and cherry that tops the dish of ice cream that is Speed. I give Speed 3.75-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, April 14, 2021

Dustin Hoffman, Renee Russo, Morgan Freeman and the Wolfgang Petersen movie ‘Outbreak’

The 1994 Richard Preston book The Hot Zone: The Terrifying True Story of the Origins of the Ebola Virus was the inspiration for the Wolfgang Petersen movie Outbreak (1995) that premiered a year later. The story of the communicable disease landing in America from Africa is a primary story of the Petersen movie.

(From left, Morgan Freeman as General Billy Ford and Donald Sutherland as General Donald McClintock in the Wolfgang Petersen movie Outbreak).

Outbreak focuses on a fictional Motaba virus mixed with Ebola that shows as a fever within four hours of exposure. A horrifying bleeding death with 100% mortality follows infection, which attracts the attention of army generals Billy Ford and Donald McClintock, portrayed by Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland respectively, when encountered per the movie in the late 1960s. The two sanction the use a fuel bomb to incinerate an army camp infected with the disease.

(From left, Cuba Gooding Jr. as Major Salt, Kevin Spacey as Lieutenant Colonel Casey Schuler and Dustin Hoffman as Sam Daniels in the Wolfgang Petersen movie Outbreak).

The film opens with the underlying fact of the bombing, followed by the introduction of Sam Daniels as portrayed by Dustin Hoffman. Daniels is helplessly devoted to Robby Keough, his ex-wife as portrayed by Renee Russo. Both Keough and Daniels are committed doctors who trust the others medical instincts in fighting the outbreak of contagious disease, yet struggle with a comic relief of a relationship that ping pongs through the movie.

(Renee Russo as Robby Keough in the Wolfgang Petersen movie Outbreak).

Lieutenant Colonel Casey Schule, as portrayed by Kevin Spacey, is part of Daniels’ army of medical doctors. Both answer to General Billy Ford, who functions to protect the secret weapon that he and General Donald McClintock are bent on aiming to maintain in the American military arsenal. As things transpire, Major Salt of the US Army, as portrayed by Cuba Gooding Jr., joins the team.

(Patrick Dempsey as Jimbo Scott in the Wolfgang Petersen movie Outbreak).

An underlying truth that brings much of the film’s dramatic impact to bear begins with Jimbo Scott, as portrayed by Patrick Dempsey, who unwittingly smuggles a diseased monkey named Betsy from the country where the fictional disease of the movie originated. Betsy, as portrayed by Binx, brings multiple threads of the film together.

(Binx as Betsy in the Wolfgang Petersen movie Outbreak).

The movie Outbreak offers points of humor in speaking to a difficult subject. A difficulty I have with the film is the largely simplistic nature of the dramatic conflict in portraying a naturally complex subject in less than complex terms. The interpersonal stories simply were not the equal of the acting talent that this film had to offer, which is unfortunate. With my rating of 3.5-stars on a scale of one-to-five, I am suggesting that you determine your appetite for Outbreak with caution.

Matt – Wednesday, February 10, 2021