Reservoir Dogs

Stars: Harvey Keitel (The Bad Lieutenant, Thelma & Louise, Sister Act), Tim Roth (Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Vincent & Theo), Chris Penn (Best of the Best, At Close Range), Michael Madsen (Straight Talk, Thelma & Louise). Although movies are usually made with one eye on the audience, writer-director-star Quentin Tarantino's debut picture definitely has one eye on the critics. And it's a knowledgeable eye at that: Vincent Canby called it "brilliant," US magazine went the whole nine yards and simply pronounced it "an instant classic," and many others have offered up their pet adjectives in praise of Reservoir Dogs. Which is not to say, mind you, that the film is bad, it's actually pretty impressive. The film opens with an-depth discussion by a bunch of hoodlums about what the Madonna song "Like a Virgin" really means. Then we flash forward to the present where, in the wake of a failed diamond heist, Harvey Keitel (Mr. White--all of the characters have color code names) drags a gutshot Tim Roth to the rendezvous site (an abandoned warehouse), where they meet up with Steve Buscemi, who tells Keitel that he smells a rat. Shortly thereafter, the man who botched the job, Mr. Blue (Michael Madsen), strolls in, and the quartet look at each other very suspiciously. The film cuts back and forth between past and present, showing how each man became involved in the stick-up, and the audience learns things about the men that the others don't know (this is the interesting part). But a solid psychological puzzler is too tame for Tarantino. He wants to up the black comedy ante just a hair, so we're forced to sit through an extremely brutal torture scene in which a police officer has his ear cut off while the torturer dances to the 70s hit "Stuck In the Middle With You" by Stealers Wheel. It's one of those "are we bold or what?" kind of scenes that film critics eat up. Reservoir Dogs is disturbing, thought-provoking, and always interesting, but it's not much fun to watch. Audience: This will be a big hit with action fans and film buffs (which is rare). But general audiences may find the relentless profanity and scenes of sadism a bit too much. (R. Pitman)[DVD Review—Dec 26, 2006—Lionsgate, 2 discs, 100 min., R, $19.98—Making its third appearance on DVD, 1992's Reservoir Dogs (15th Anniversary) sports a greatly improved transfer with DVD extras new to this set including a 16-minute “Playing It Fast and Loose” production featurette, a “Profiling the Reservoir Dogs” featurette on the characters (7 min.), “Reservoir Dogs: The Game” (4 min.), a “Reservoir Dolls” featurette which reenacts the famed ear sequence with dolls (2 min.), and a “Tipping Guide” on proper tipping etiquette (missing here, however, are the interviews from the last set along with a few featurettes). Bottom line: the improved image make this edition worth picking up if you don't already own the 10th anniversary edition.]