Critic's Grade: C

Filled with moments of extreme violence and whip-smart dialogue, Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" is sure to shock its audience into a state of desensitization, which may not be such a bad thing considering the lack of energy and suspense the piece carries with it. Being a debut project for its writer/director, I must give Tarantino credit for his ability to put such a stylish gloss over these events, but his story never reaches a note of brilliance, and his mysteries, if they deserve such a title, are solved too soon to merit much acclaim.

The movie opens oddly enough with a restaurant sequence in which we meet a large group of men verbally duking it out over whether or not their waitress deserves a tip. From this, we cut to an extremely unsettling image of one of those men, called Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), writhing and screaming, his blood smeared all over the white upholstery of the backseat of a car being driven by Mr. White (Harvey Keitel). They make their way to an unknown rendevous point, where White reassures Orange that he is not going to die, and that when the others arrive, he will receive proper medical attention.

Then we meet Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), an nerve-wracked shell of a man who cannot keep himself still, whether it be hand gestures or walking in circles to calm himself. In his conversation with White, we learn of a heist situation gone completely wrong, of the possibility that one of the men seen earlier is working undercover for the police, and of Pink's possession of the stolen stash of diamonds. We have all the essentials for a perfect mystery thriller at hand, as well as the performances from Keitel, Roth, and Buscemi, who all show distinct signs of their talents within the first ten minutes of the film.

Soon after, another man shows up, a seemingly quiet ex-con named Vic Vega (Michael Madsen) whom the others refer to as Mr. Blonde. Of course, being that Vic lost his marbles and initiated a shoot-'em-up in the middle of the jewelry store, without regard to civilian casualties (we learn all of this through dialogue), Pink and White are none too thrilled to see him. Perhaps this is how the audience should feel as well, because once we learn the nature of the cop hidden in Vic's trunk, the mystery of who the snitch is has been solved soon after.

And then what's left for us? The movie begins throwing backstory at us as if it were gold bullion: we get flashbacks from various characters, such as the post-incarceration meeting between Vic and the leader of the heist, Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney), and his son, Eddie "Nice Guy" Cabot (Chris Penn). In this scene, we see a sense of loyalty and devotion between these men, that which comes into play during a final confrontation between Joe, Eddie, Mr. White, and the snitch, who will remain nameless, but who insists that he overheard Vic planning to rob the Cabots blind of their gain. But so what? We already know that Vic would not do such a thing, and the reason for that is because we already know who is to blame for the sour heist.

We're also treated to various instances that led up to the heist, such as the unnamed snitch's descent into the underworld of crime, and his first-hand experience with the conditions of this way of life. This is all fine and dandy, but since we don't really give a hoot and a hollar for these characters as human beings, what does it matter? Everything seems to be happening either too fast or too slow: there's never a healthy medium at which the audience can come to an understanding of what each man is all about, save for Buscemi's character who is bent on precision, and Vic Vega, who shows such disregard for life that he becomes the most chilling character in the film.

The movie has two things going for it: the dialogue and the violence. Tarantino has a way with words, and I love the way he uses dialogue and conversation in the beginning moments to whet our appetites for what at least sounds like an intriguing mystery. The wit is exceptionally humorous: in one scene, Buscemi walks in to see Orange bleeding from the stomach, and questions, "Is it bad?" Keitel, in turn, replies, "As opposed to good?" There is a heavy quotient of extreme brutal violence put on display here, from multiple shootings to an instance where a cop has his ear cut off with a razor blade by Vic. Some will quibble about this as style over substance, and it is, but any movie that has the guts to show the side of a man's head minus an ear deserves credit for boldness.

Too bad the movie doesn't show this trait in other, more important areas. "Reservoir Dogs" is so busy being smart with its words and shocking with its violence that it fails to be suspenseful or even interesting in its plot and execution. The way in which Tarantino tells his story (i.e. flachbacks, editing) isn't so much sloppy as it is demystifying: we learn too much too soon to become fully immersed in the material as we feel we should. If nothing else, he does show some promise, and one can only hope that he will learn from this when tackling future projects.

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