The Auteur Report Card: Quentin Tarantino

It’s a bit stunning to finally see the trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s newest epic, the World War II kill-fest “Inglourious Basterds.” It’s almost like Guns and Roses finally releasing “Chinese Democracy” this year. Tarantino’s film is one that I’ve heard about for almost ten years. It was always one of his potential projects that one wondered if he would ever actually film.

Well, he’s done it. Now, the question: will it be any good?

Any halfway educated cinephile should probably already know the answer: Tarantino has a tremendous track record. Few directors of the modern era have so frequently produced A-level work.

Tarantino first made his mark in the field of ultra-hip, ultra-violent crime cinema with 1992’s “Reservoir Dogs.” The film featured a fractured narrative that leapt around in time and a cast of pop culture talking, F-bomb dropping robbers. Now regarded as a cult classic, I tend to take the contrarian opinion that while “Reservoir Dogs” is certainly a great picture it’s wildly overrated. Sure it’s cool and has some classic scenes but one has a hard time finding well-developed characters.

QT’s character problem followed him from “Reservoir Dogs.” In 1994 “Pulp Fiction” exploded into ‘90s cinema history. The collection of interwoven crime vignettes earned Tarantino a Palme d’Or at Cannes and an Oscar for Screenwriter at the Academy Awards. It also rejuvenated the careers of everyone in it.

With as much of a modern day masterpiece as “Pulp Fiction” admittedly is it only features a single legendary character: Samuel L. Jackson’s scripture-quoting Jules Winfield. Eventually the magic tricks of “Pulp Fiction” start to fade. And when they do it’s revealed that there’s hardly a likable character in the picture with the exception of Jules.

Following “Pulp Fiction” Tarantino began the first of many collaborations with action director Robert Rodriguez. In 1995 he had a memorable supporting role in “Desperado,” one of the ‘90s greatest action movies. That year both Tarantino and Rodriguez contributed to the horrid anthology film “Four Rooms.” Rodriguez’s segment is the only one worth watching.

The following year Tarantino would re-team with Rodriguez for a bigger role in the vampire horror film “From Dusk Till Dawn.” Tarantino also wrote the screenplay.

Tarantino returned to directing in 1997 and demonstrated conclusively that he could handle characters with his third feature, “Jackie Brown.” Adapted from the Elmore Leonard novel Rum Punch and starring blaxploitation goddess Pam Grier as a desperate flight attendant, the film very much kept Tarantino in the crime genre he’d grown so accustomed to while giving him a chance to mature.

I hold a rather contrarian view on “Jackie Brown”: it’s Tarantino’s true masterpiece. “Jackie Brown” is a far better film than “Pulp Fiction” for one primary reason. Unlike “Pulp Fiction” and “Reservoir Dogs,” “Jackie Brown” is filled with rich, engaging, likeable characters. Jackie is one of ‘90s cinema’s greatest protagonists, second only to Frances McDormand’s Marge Gunderson in “Fargo.” It’s impossible not to fall in love with Jackie over the course of the movie. We’re in the exact same position as her bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster,) one of the most human and sympathetic characters ever to stumble into one of QT’s usually hyperbolic pictures. And then there’s Jackson riffing a more sinister version of Jules in gun dealer Ordell Robbie.

Go and see “Jackie Brown” immediately if you haven’t already. And watch it again if it’s been awhile.

Tarantino would go in the opposite direction from the character-driven “Jackie Brown” with his next picture, the two-part “Kill Bill” released in 2003 and 2004. The revenge-driven action film starred “Pulp Fiction” star Uma Thurman in a role far more engaging than her drugged-out mobster wife from her previous QT outing. The film lacked the substance of “Jackie Brown” and “Pulp Fiction” but that was never Tarantino’s intention with his ultraviolent epic. “Kill Bill” is a glorious, violent thrill-ride – a pure exercise in style and a textbook example of appreciating the action film as one would view a ballet.

In 2005 Tarantino collaborated again with Rodriguez, this time guest-directing a scene in Rodriguez’s amazing “Sin City.” (He was repaying a favor. Rodriguez had scored the second half of “Kill Bill.”) This numbered the pair’s collaborations at five films – four of which were successes. They would not be so lucky with their next effort.

In 2007 Tarantino and Rodriguez released “Grindhouse,” a throwback to ‘70s exploitation cinema which combined fake trailers, Rodriguez’s zombie flick “Planet Terror,” and Tarantino’s so-called slasher movie “Death Proof.” The Rodriguez movie wasn’t bad. It wasn’t quite “Sin City” but it’s worth watching. “Death Proof” is Tarantino’s first certified bad feature length movie. His “innovation” was to make a slasher movie in which the villain, played by Kurt Russell, uses a “death proof” car to slaughter young women. Featuring two unrelated narratives and excessive dull dialogue the film should be ignored by all but Tarantino completists.

So now it’s time for QT to redeem himself. And if ever there was a film which could then it’s  “Inglourious Basterds.” Here’s hoping that it combines the narrative inventiveness of “Pulp Fiction,” the strong characters of “Jackie Brown,” and the over the top action of “Kill Bill.”

Inglourious Basterds (2009) ?

Death Proof (2007)  D

Kill Bill (2003 and 2004) A

Jackie Brown (1997) A+

Four Rooms (1995) (segment “The Man from Hollywood”) D

Pulp Fiction (1994) A

Reservoir Dogs (1992) A-

GPA: 3.3998, a B+ average. (I’ve charitably chosen not to include his segment from “Four Rooms,” after all it’s not really a feature.)