Reservoir Dogs

Quentin Tarantino’s first film, Reservoir Dogs follows a group of criminals as they slowly assemble at an abandoned warehouse after a simply jewel-store robbery goes horribly wrong. There’s little doubt that Tarantino gets things off to a spectacularly engrossing start, as Reservoir Dogs begins with a justifiably iconic sequence revolving around the various characters’ coffee-shop banter – with this memorable, quotable stretch followed by an opening-credits interlude that remains one of Tarantino’s best. From there, however, Reservoir Dogs segues into a watchable yet palpably uneven midsection that’s been crammed with flashbacks exploring the characters’ respective backstories. And while such digressions go a long way towards fleshing out the protagonists, the film’s momentum isn’t, as a result, quite as consistent as one might’ve hoped – with the inclusion of several seriously electrifying moments (eg Michael Madsen’s Mr. Blonde tortures a cop to the strains of Stealers Wheel’s “Stuck in the Middle with You”) compensating for the otherwise erratic atmosphere. (It’s worth noting, too, that the movie benefits substantially from the uniformly compelling performances, with actors like Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi, and Tim Roth offering up stellar, standout work.) There’s little doubt that Reservoir Dogs picks up considerably in the buildup to its captivating final stretch, which ultimately (and effectively) cements the movie’s place as one of the most impressive debut features in cinematic history.

***1/2 out of ****