What would you say if you walked into a warehouse and found a bunch of dead men in matching suits, a dead police officer duct taped to a chair surrounded by a pool of gasoline, a severed ear, and a lot of cigarette butts? I'll tell you what you'd say. You'd say, "Holy crap, this is from Reservoir Dogs, isn't it? I freaking love that movie," and you'd be correct on all counts because Reservoir Dogs has become iconic to the point where posters depicting the opening scene are hung in the rooms of douchebags everywhere, and the song "Stuck In the Middle with You" can give a guy nightmares.
Reservoir Dogs is the directorial debut of Quentin Tarantino (at least it is to those of you who have never heard of "My Best Friend's Birthday") and the film does a great job of introducing Tarantino's prowess behind (and to some extent, in front of) the camera. Now, I'm no great connoisseur of everything Tarantino. I love most of his stuff, and the reason for that is that rather than have a familiar style to his movies, he infuses them with a familiar feel. The films are eclectic, but you watch one and you can just feel that it's Tarantino behind the camera. I'm going to change the subject now because reading back the last few sentences, it seems like I'm high. Or a douchebag.
Reservoir Dogs follows the lead up to, and consequences of, a botched diamond heist, without actually showing the heist itself. "But wait a minute," you may find yourself asking, "how can a movie be any good if it doesn't show the climactic scene?"
"Well, you ignorant putz," I would respond, "it works because Quentin Tarantino understands that the events that take place between the major plot points are just as interesting, if not more so, than the plot points themselves." And it's absolutely true. We're not shown the diamond heist because ultimately, this movie is about the characters, and characters have no place to develop during a shootout. All they can do is shoot, whereas afterwards they can reflect and grow and communicate with each other and the audience can get a sense for who they are. Now of course that isn't the only purpose of the movie, but I like to think it helps, and it's a hell lot more interesting leaving some mystery as to what exactly happened rather than showing us another cookie cutter shootout scene (note to self: fight scene between holiday themed cookie cutters, eg. easter bunny shaped cookie cutter vs. Christmas angel shaped cookie cutter = terrible idea). Anyways, it's because Tarantino takes such care in creating interesting characters rather than just shoving boring people into a gunfight that we get a discussion at the beginning of the movie about tipping waitresses that is infinitely more fun to watch than the diamond heist would be.
I'd also mention that just because the movie doesn't feature the botched robbery doesn't mean the main hub of action has been removed. The real climax of the movie comes when the growing friction between the fellow robbers creates a distrust that leads to a vicious Mexican standoff, which Tarantino seems to use frequently in his movies and always makes it more exciting than the actual firing of weapons.
Here's a quick rundown of the major characters in this film, in a final attempt to get you to see this movie if you haven't already;
Mr. White: Harvey Keitel. A smart, cunning, but ultimately sympathetic robber who doesn't put up with any bullshit, and his guilt at getting Mr. Orange shot is what drives him throughout most of the film.
Mr. Orange: Tim Roth. An undercover cop hoping to catch the guy who organized this whole heist. Gets shot by a civilian woman while fleeing the robbery and spends most of the film bleeding out on a ramp (aka playing the Christ figure).
Mr. Blonde: Michael Madsen. A psychopath who, according to retellings of what went on during the robbery, was the main reason things became so hectic and screwed up. He dances while cutting off a cops ear and splashing him with gasoline before getting shot to death.
Nice Guy Eddie: Fat Sean Penn. He's actually played by Sean Penn's brother, Chris Penn, who surprisingly died of fat in 2006, though some doctors deny that and say it was merely a chubbiness overdose. He wears a light blue track suit and gets shot.
Joe Cabot: Lawrence Tierney. The mastermind behind the whole diamond heist. His description is best summarized by Mr. Orange in the film, "Motherfucker looks just like The Thing (from the Fantastic 4)."
Mr. Pink: Steve Buscemi.
I think I'll end on the excellent note that is Steve Buscemi.
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