L’enfant terrible, Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Inglorious Basterds), has specialized integrating his encyclopedic knowledge of exploitive movies into reinvented, genre films stocked with top actors and highlighted by dialogue enriched scenes. The ultimate revenge tale in the guise of a slavery drama morphed into a western, Django Unchained is a highly entertaining adventure with a heavy dose of violence.
It is the pre-Civil War South where cruel plantation owners treat slaves inhumanely, and guns rule the landscape. A former dentist, Dr Schultz (Christoph Waltz), is a bounty hunter and seeks his quarry by enlisting the aid of a slave, Django (Jamie Foxx). It seems bounty hunting is a very lucrative profession, and it facilitates Django’s freedom and a means to search for and rescue his wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington), from a wealthy slave owner, Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio). As Schultz and Django devise a plan to win Hildy’s freedom, Candie, who relies on the counsel of his slave-confident, Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson), begins to suspect a ruse and with time running out, it leads to an explosive, bloody end.
Although his films tend to function and be appreciated for their parts rather than the whole, there are, of course, the Tarantino trademarks. He knows how to build a scene, and part of the fun is the delicious interplay among the key characters. As in most of his films, his characters are put in situations where there is an inevitability, a destiny if you will as the tension and looming threat of violence gets unbearable at times particularly in the climactic dinner scene. He also has a couple of scenes early on which are meant to fool the audience in which things appear one way but are really a clever misdirection.
Foxx is quite the stud as the determined former slave, and DiCaprio is cast convincingly against type. Yet it is Waltz who shines here, and he makes the most of a role written for him.
As he has done in all his previous films, Tarantino has resurrected former stars and character actors in numerous supporting roles. Part of the fun is trying to recognize a face under heavy makeup. Try identifying Michael Parks, Tom Savini, Robert Carradine, Bruce Dern, Russ Tamblyn, Don Stroud, Franco Nero (star of the original titled film), Don Johnson, Dennis Christopher, or James Remar.
The film is heavily influenced by spaghetti westerns with the long stares and moody musical score. The action scenes are brutal and at times over the top; when has it not been so in a Tarantino film? One day perhaps, he should make a more intimate, gentle film to prove his versatility (like David Lynch demonstrated in The Straight Story).
At 165 minutes, the film could use a bit leaner running time, but it is good fun if you aren’t put off by the periodic, graphic violence. Tarantino may be a film geek with a nasty streak, but he definitely knows how to put together engaging, crowd pleasers, even if much of the material is cleverly recycled from older, obscure films. He has devised a crackerjack piece of entertainment, and while he says he wants to make a very limited amount of films in his career, if they continue to be as popular and well written as this and his previous work, we may have to wait a couple years or more for the next one. For his fans, it will be worth the wait.
*** of **** stars (add ½ star for Tarantino fans)
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