REVIEW - Django Unchained (2012)

For years now, film writers would have you believe that Quentin Tarantino is the man who will single-handedly reinvigorate cinema. While some of his films are indeed exemplary examples of the power of film (JACKIE BROWN specifically)… others establish QT as the world’s most inspired plagiarist. No one – and I mean NO ONE – can beg, borrow, and steal movie moments like QT. His use of music, his much-lauded sense of being “over-the-top,” and of course his knowledge that gore – make that “well-placed gore” – is integral to realistic and moving storytelling. Some would say this is QT’s stock in trade… and they’d be right. Which brings us to DJANGO UNCHAINED. DJANGO UNCHAINED is by far QT’s most accomplished film (it manages to tell a coherent story and keeps the moments in which QT “gets cute” with his themes to a minimum) as well as his most misguided. Forget all the belly-aching people like Spike Lee has engaged in. The script’s use of the notorious “N-word” is pitch-perfect given the time and place in which the story is set. The problem (for want of a better term) with DJANGO is that – at nearly 3 hours – the film meanders and feels like it doesn’t know where it’s going. I saw spots – nearly 45 minutes worth – that could’ve easily been truncated or removed all together. Visually, QT’s use of the tracking shot is just this side of annoying (and they bring little to the flow of the film). Further, the film’s internal time-line is wonky (Django goes from slave to badass gunslinger in the span of 3 months or one winter? C’mon…). The acting is all top-drawer (especially Christoph Waltz) and Jamie Foxx manages to pull off the grizzled badass with some alacrity. DiCaprio and the rest of QT’s “stunt casting” do a splendid job of chewing the scenery and having fun with the whole affair. It’s always fun to play “spot the actor” in Quentin’s films and DJANGO is no exception. And then, there are the FX shots… which are the most important reason to see the flick. The bullet hits are jaw-dropping and the deaths are indeed spectacular. However, all too soon, the film over-stays its welcome with an overly-long runtime and a fractured narrative. In my world, if you’re going to make a 3 hour film, you damn well better have a REALLY intricate story to tell… or your last name needs to be Kurosawa. As I said re: INGLORIOUS BASTERDS, QT has a perfect film in him somewhere… Sadly, DJANGO UNCHAINED is not it. Instead, we get flawed, albeit still entertaining, escapist fare. Don’t think too hard and just go with the flow and you’ll have a good time. Apply too much thoguht and you’re bound to leave the theater feeling frustrated. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed DJANGO UNCHAINED. I just wish QT would apply his energies to something with a little more narrative weight.

Rating: 3 out of 5

~ Thom Carnell