In my review of Joy, I questioned whether the director, David O Russell, has been given too much free rein. The same question could be asked of Quentin Tarantino and his new movie. At nearly three hours long, it has tested the patience of a lot of people, and I can’t deny that it is self-indulgent, but I loved almost all of it.
It is just after the end of the American Civil War, and a group of apparent strangers are stranded in a store whilst a blizzard rages outside. One of them, bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) suspects that one of more of the others are planning to kill him and free his prisoner Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh).
The film takes a leisurely pace initially, but that period is sustained by great dialogue, supplied by Tarantino’s sublime script. It is around the time of the film’s intermission that the strands of the plot begin to pull together and the main twist is revealed. The next hour is extremely tense as the full extent of the plot to free Daisy is revealed. It is only in the last 15 minutes or so that the story begins to run out of steam, though that lull didn’t spoil my overall enjoyment.
As you would expect, the performances are almost uniformly excellent, with Samuel L. Jackson as rival bounty hunter Major Warren giving his best performance for a very long time. Russell is impressive, and Tim Roth and Walter Goggins vie at stealing scenes from one another. Best of all, though, is Jennifer Jason Leigh as Daisy, one of (possibly the) finest actress of the 80s and 90s, whose career inexplicably went into decline at the turn of the century. Hopefully this will give it a deserved kick-start.
A long watch maybe, but I don’t expect too many better experiences in the cinema this year.
Rating: 8.5 out of 10