Death Proof ( A second look)
Alright. I'ma get right to it.
I'm not a HUGE Quentin Tarantino fan. I like his stuff but I don't fall into the belief that he is the "second-coming" in the way that alot of film critics and aspiring filmmakers seem to feel. I've appreciated, liked, or loved everything he's done. Reservoir Dogs is cool. But I don't own it. Pulp Fiction is exceptional. But I never replaced the anniversary DVD I lost. Jackie Brown? I saw once and liked. Kill Bill vols 1 and 2? I loved it! Combined, they are one of my favorite films. Period. Kill Bill is, equally, an encompassing world and completely in the director's head.
Then there is Death Proof.
Alright. I'ma get right to it.
I'm not a HUGE Quentin Tarantino fan. I like his stuff but I don't fall into the belief that he is the "second-coming" in the way that alot of film critics and aspiring filmmakers seem to feel. I've appreciated, liked, or loved everything he's done. Reservoir Dogs is cool. But I don't own it. Pulp Fiction is exceptional. But I never replaced the anniversary DVD I lost. Jackie Brown? I saw once and liked. Kill Bill vols 1 and 2? I loved it! Combined, they are one of my favorite films. Period. Kill Bill is, equally, an encompassing world and completely in the director's head.
Then there is Death Proof.
Death Proof is the second-half of the double feature gimmick that, directors, Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez put together for Grindhouse. It's also the first film to expose all of Quentin's weaknesses and oddball predeilictions to the delight of Quentin-haters across the world.
Every good filmmaker has one. It's that one film that is an open-wound. The cut that shows all the things they've been criticized for in full view:
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Hitchcock has Family Plot. In which his dark humor, usually to his advantage, wears thin and repetitive even before the opening credits.
To a lesser extent, Scorsese has Casino. Riffing on the crime and redemption thing, once again for the cheap seats. And, despite a 3-hour running time, does have the taste of Goodfellas-lite.
Speilberg has Hook. The, sugary Peter Pan movie that plays on the Speilbergian-theme of childhood once too often and overuses John Williams' violins for wide-eyed enthusiastism waaaay too much.
And Quentin has Death Proof. Verbose, foot-fetish, and so "hip" at points that it feels like a Tarantino impresonation instead of the real deal.
I'm sure Quentin will bounce back with something strong.
Anyway, Death Proof came out this week on DVD and through the collision of Credit Card and late-afternoon boredom, I bought it. I saw it in the theatre as it was definitely intended, and yet the movie worked better for me on DVD.
I noticed there is a level of patience that I allow myself at home when I'm not at the theatre. I'm sure it has to do with my ass hurting after an hour and half, but whatever. I watched it and liked it alot more than I previously did. I didn't hate Death Proof, truth be told I wasn't insanely impressed by both Grindhouse movies, but I did enjoy myself. Which was the whole point, so I never complained really.
So what worked this time that didn't the first time? Well, for starters the set-up. A good 30+ minutes of the film's beginning is dedicated to a series of dialouge bits that guide you towards the first eruption of violence. It's a trying move, but the second-viewing allowed me to actualy enjoy the dialouge. Alot of which IS completely unnecessary for film writing BUT appeals to the Friday Night bar crawler in me (which is the atmosphere that Quentin creates, well). Not to mention how he tip toes around words and flirts with sentence structure and rhyming words at certain moments. Here's a brief exchange between, actors, Kurt Russel ("Stuntman Mike") and Vanessa Ferlito ("Butterfly"):
StuntMan Mike: Why are you afraid of me? Is it my scar?
Butterfly: No. it's your car.
He also gives you a shitload of insight into certain characters, like the bit above. Mike points out the scar to gain sympathy from Butterfly. It backfires on him for a second. But ultimately she responds to his flirtations. (Russels delivery also indicates a bit of humiliation from the scar on his face).
It's also kind of nice to hear female dialouge that isn't trying too hard to be intentionally female. Y'know, prissy, or whiny.
And the lapdance that was cut out of the theatre release, is maintained on DVD. Kurt Russel has never looked happier.
Then the violence happens. I won't give away much, but I will say the practical effects continue to prove superior for gory moments compared to CGI.
The movies second half (the movie doesn't even really have a third act) is with a new set of, intentionally, more pleasant and accessible females. Again, the dialouge isn't Quentin's best but it set-ups alot while manuevering around being blatant exposition. It's a good example (albeit a lengthy one) of writing dialouge without damn near talking to the viewer.
The movie gains it's legs as the second half rolls on, which is a shame seeing how it ends shortly thereafter. But it does give way for an insanely impressive chase sequence that is celverly made all the more better with the realizatin that the actress in peril is doing all her own stunts.
Doubley nice, is the twist that happens once StuntMan Mike has had his fun with the ladies. It's a take that allows a believable surge of girl power for female viewers I'm sure (yeah. I apologize I said "Girl Power").
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Quentin's Death Proof is, from a filmic perspective, impressive. From the perspective of conventional thinking and from the perspective of "The Grindhouse" gimmick it's kind of a failure. It's short but feels long. It's talky and self-indulgent. It's light on the quantity of action but big on menace.
It's a strange little movie that works only for strange little nights at home on DVD.
