Death Proof

For me, the highlight of Quentin Tarantino's cinematic oeuvre is still the opening of Reservoir Dogs. A bunch of guys in suits sitting in a diner talking about pop culture and the politics of tipping, well, it really never got too much cooler than that in my book. There's no denying that Tarantino has put a slew of fantastic moments on celluloid since he did so with the infamous speech about "Like a Virgin". What I love the most about that opening scene, however, is its simplicity. Unabashed banality...that is vintage Tarantino. And even though we all love the bloody shoot-outs, colorful Kung fu, and wickedly hysterical eye-pluckings, Tarantino's true gift is his ear for dialogue. I have and probably will continue to argue with people about this but you could take out every action sequence of every one of his films and still be left with a lot great cinema.



That being said, it's no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed Death Proof, QT's contribution to he and Robert Rodriguez's 70s exploitation mash-up Grindhouse. I decided when Grindhouse came out, I would wait and see if Death Proof would ever be released on its own. I know QT and RR would be totally disappointed in my reluctance to take in the whole "grindhouse" experience, but unfortunately I've never been a huge fan of anything Rodriguez has done, with the exception of the first third of From Dusk Till Dawn. Plus all of my favorite film critics were recommending Death Proof over Planet Terror so I figured my intuition was probably correct.



Now a lot of people found Death Proof to be self-indulgent and dull. I can see why they would feel that way since the film is almost two hours long and the action sequences probably only take up about 30 minutes of that. The film is split into two segments, each segment dedicated to a group of girls doing various things you'd expect girls to do. They drive, they hang out at convenience stores, diners, and juke joints, and they talk...a lot. At first it takes some getting used to. When the 30 minute mark rolled around and I felt as though the movie had already been playing for hours, I was wondering if this one was going to make much of an impact. But something happened along the way. Suddenly I was sucked in and became totally mesmerized and fascinated by these women and their lifestyles. And the music is fantastic. If Tarantino has a good ear for dialogue, he's got an even better one for music. Between the two, the guy seriously owns the patent on cool.



And while I most certainly give all of the actresses in Death Proof mad props for owning all of their scenes, I've really gotta bow down to the hot chunk of grizzled sexiness that is Kurt Russell. He plays Stuntman Mike and when he's not being totally creepy and psycho, he's got a charm that extremely fun to watch. The scene between him and Vanessa Ferlito outside the Texas Chili Parlor was amazing. By the end of the exchange, I wanted to give him a lap dance. Russell is charismatic to say the least and it speaks volumes about his performance in the film because before Death Proof, the guy tended to leave me pretty cold.



Now while the dialogue sequences do comprise a majority of the film, the action sequences in Death Proof are worth the price of admission. Zoë Bell, a stunt woman in real life, plays herself and what she does in the final car chase showdown rendered me speechless. When you think about the fact that everything you're seeing is legit, the phrase "edge of your seat" doesn't even begin to describe the feeling. For people who are more into Tarantino's action than his dialogue, I would recommend the film simply for the last 15 minutes.



I have to say, it was more than a little refreshing seeing Quentin Tarantino return to his roots with Death Proof. I love that he has matured enough as a filmmaker to be able to pull off such a stunt heavy picture while still maintaining his integrity as a writer. This film demanded a kind of technical proficiency he wouldn't have ever imagined tackling back in the early 90s so it really shows how far he's come in that regard. But what impresses me more is how important dialogue and characterization still are to him. Even though he's established himself as one of the most interesting and provocative filmmakers of his generation, he still has the capability to bore and alienate his audience by focusing on dialogue rather than action. With Death Proof, you can clearly tell he doesn't give a shit whether or not he bores people, and that's exactly what makes the guy so damn cool.