This week literally no new movies came out at the Regal that I go to, so I have opted out of going again this week, but next week, Moonfall and Jackass Forever come out, so it is going to be a banner weekend at the movies. So I decided to watch Home Team, the new Kevin James movie on Netflix, and rewatch Reservoir Dogs, on HBO Max, because it was its 30th anniversary. The Kevin James movie is exactly what you would expect from an Adam Sandler production company family comedy. Lots of bathroom humor jokes and some feel good moments surrounded by a subpar plot, but even though it is bad, it is enjoyable enough to watch, which means this is going to focus on Reservoir Dogs instead.
Five men come together under the tutelage of a crime boss and his son to rob a jewelry store, but it does not go as planned. Another plan was afoot. One of the members of the crew was a rat, and he had told the police the plan of the robbery. So the police were on the scene quick, chaos broke out in their escape, and the members did not make it to the rendezvous point at the same time. First to arrive are Mr. White and Mr. Orange. Mr. Orange was shot, and it was potentially going to be fatal. Mr. Pink was next to arrive, and he brought up the idea that there had to be a rat, so they started to run through each member of the crew and try to figure out who was responsible. Then Mr. Blonde showed up with a cop as a hostage, and they started to brutally interrogate the cop but to no avail. When White and Pink left to go move the cars, Blonde cut off the cop’s ear, but was killed by Orange before he could kill the cop. Once all that survived the robbery had arrived, and the boss and his son showed up, they found out who the rat was, and a stand off ensued.
Reservoir Dogs was Quinten Tarantino’s premier film, and it came out in 1992. It started to gain recognition at Sundance Film Festival, some of which came from positive reviews, but most of the press came from people discussing the violence in it. In Tarantino’s films, there is always a ton of bloodshed, and his first film was not exempt from this. Due to its release in the early 90s, it was a different time, if the movie came out now, it might get some press for the violence, but nowhere near as much. The main scene that the discourse surrounded was when Mr. Blonde cut off the cop’s ear while “Stuck in the Middle with You” is playing in the background, it is an iconic scene, and when Blonde starts to cut the ear off, the camera pans up to a wall in the factory that says, “Watch your head.” So they do not even show the act being done, but they do show the gruesome aftermath, which I do admit is a sight that you will not forget, the hole in the side of the guys head where his ear used to be, which I am sure, given Tarantino’s reputation for his attention to detail, is pretty close to anatomically correct for how a wound like that would look. Disturbing, yes, but not enough to sound the alarms.
The opening scene of the film takes place in a diner with the crew sitting down before the job gets done to have a cup of coffee and maybe some food before they go out to commit their crime. While they are sitting there, they are just talking about whatever comes to mind, it starts with an in-depth conversation as to what they thought Madonna’s “Like a Virgin” is about, but then when the boss goes to pay the bill, the conversation quickly changes to tipping, everyone is supposed to pitch in a dollar to cover the tip, but Mr. Pink refuses to add to the pot, and he goes on a tirade about how society expects you to pay a tip to these people, but that does not mean that is what you have to do, we do not pay tips to people at McDonalds, so why do it to the people in a diner? It is an unimportant scene in the grand scheme of things, and it lasts about five minutes, but it one of the best due to its natural feel, and it does show an in depth look at a character. It feels like you are just sitting in with a group of pals, and the whole movie could have been that, and it would have been great.
The tips part of the scene is an incredible performance by Steve Buscemi, he just does the perfect job of coming off as a jerk and not caring what anyone else thinks of him, which if you are a person that does not tip, is exactly how one should act. The only problem I have with this, is that when it comes time to do the job, he is the most buttoned up of any of the robbers, and Mr. Blonde, is the one that comes across as insane. It seems like the person who starts to shoot up the place when they are robbing the shop, and the one who is willing to start a fight with anyone in the crew, would be the one to not tip, not the guy who is constantly trying to play peacemaker.
Another instrumental part of the movie comes from the soundtrack. Throughout the film, they are listening to the radio, and they are playing hit songs from the 70s, most of which are well known. All the songs fit perfectly into the film, and it is worth going and listening to the soundtrack after watching it. The best parts come from when they are listening to a song, and they leave the room, or go outside, and the song stops, but when they reenter, it starts to play again. It is something so simple, but it adds so much. Tarantino is good about having a solid soundtrack for all his movies. He used real radio footage for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but the guy on the radio for this movie was just an actor.
This movie definitely holds up after 30 years. The performances are great, and it did not need a wide variety of settings either, a large part of the movie took place in a warehouse loading dock. So the lack of scenery, really speaks to how great the performances are. Watching this movie for the first time a couple of years ago, was really the start of my movie journey, at least going back in time to the classics. I started to watch the older Tarantino films to prepare for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and then once I started to research into his films, it made me more likely to dive into other director’s filmography and just other films in general. So I am grateful to have picked such a classic to encourage me to continue to dive more into the world of film!
Other Movies This Week:
Home Team: When Sean Payton gets suspended for a year for the Bounty Gate scandal, he goes to visit his son, and he becomes their head coach. Kevin James plays the titular role, and of course it is an Adam Sandler production. This means it is not a serious story, but it does have its heartwarming moments, it is bad but in a good way. The real question is, since this was based on a true story, was there really a game where they all started to projectile vomit?
New Rankings:
Reservoir Dogs: 4 Stars
Home Team: 2.5 Stars
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