Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Quinton Tarantino’s first film quickly establishes his unique style. The dialogue, the music selection, the performances, the subject matter, the editing and story structure, they all bear the autours imprint. It’s a heist film, where we never see the heist. But we don’t need to see the heist, because even though it’s a heist film, its not about the heist. I couldn’t fully encapsulate what it was about until I learned what is meant by the term ‘reservoir dog’. As Pam Greer describes it in a bounce feature, they are the junk yard dogs, the street dogs, the ones who really appreciate every scrap of food, the ones who have had a hard life. It is the story of desperate people in a desperate situation, and it doesn’t matter so much how they got into the situation, but how they react when they are in it. It’s a character study of half a dozen men we learn about but never really know, we are constantly surprised by them, and that’s what resonates. A triumphal beginning to Tarantino’s now already storied career. Grade: A.