"The Hateful Eight" - Review

One Nation Under One Roof

Samuel L. Jackson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Kurt Russel in The Hateful Eight

One can always hope for the best. America has definitely made progress in strides in regards to equality and acceptance to all. However, there is still a deep ugliness that is sewn into the foundation of our country that we have yet to shake. Personally, I do not think that is will ever go away completely because of how essential it was in creating the world we live in today. Even with all the good that does exist, we need to be weary of the fact that we can never truly ignore some of the dark intolerance that makes up our society. It seems as though Quentin Tarantino believes this as well. He is the kind of man that stands up for the right thing, whether it is attending rallies about gun violence or he is contributing to charity. His films paint a different image. He indulges in cynicism and violence when he writes his scripts, but it is to prove a point. The Hateful Eight is no different. Here he is telling us that we are no different than these eight poor hateful souls and that is has not gone away with time, even if it is a little less apparent on the surface.

The Hateful Eight is essentially a murder mystery. It plays as if Clue had a crazy baby with Tarantino's own Reservoir Dogs and Django Unchained. According to Tarantino, this takes place "7, or 8, or 9 years after the Civil War".  It tells the story of these eight stangers, plus one stage coach driver, who bunker down in a cabin in the mountains during a harsh blizzard. Having to deal with each other in such close quarters, deeply rooted social issues come to the surface and all hell breaks loose in typical Tarantino dialogue-heavy and bloody fashion.

The titular "Hateful Eight"

The cast is all fantastic, with each character having their own stand out moments. Jennifer Jason-Leigh is Oscar-worthy here, playing a character so despicable and crazy that it is near impossible to ever be less than entranced while watching the subtleties in her character progression. Samuel L. Jackson, however, steals the entire movie with an outrageous monologue to end all monologues. It will absolutely destroy those with weak hearts and Jackson revels in it. It is a showstopping moment that ends up being one of Tarantino's finest written monologues to date.

The real star of the show here is Tarantino himself. He has committed himself to creating a completely old-fashioned film complete with 70 mm Ultra Panasonic camera lenses and a beautiful original score by Ennio Morricone. In my opinion, this is the most complete film that Quentin Tarantino has made. It may not be his best script wise, though this is forgivable given his impressive repertoire, but technically it is his most impressive and encompassing piece of work.

The script has a clever way of representing an entire country's social and political climate by having each character representing a different aspect of it and putting them in a scenario where all of their problems with each other come to head immediately. What is evident here is that we are destined as a society to clash over beliefs forever as there is no way to make everyone believe in one singular
cause. Humans are selfish and entitled to their own views of the world. There is some great insight to our own socio-political climate here as well that is quite enlightening. Once the crazy carnage and plot twists of the third act have finished, we are left with quite possibly Tarantino's most sentimental movie ending, which is in itself still cynical given all of the blood and horror that has transpired before it. It is a deeply layered finale that is quite brilliant and ranks among the best endings to a film in 2015.

The Hateful Eight is an incredibly impressive film. The characters are well drawn, the comedy is pitch black, the gore is pervasive, and the writing is clever and deep. This is an absolute riot of a film that is sure to please every Tarantino fan and anyone who may find themselves wandering into this parlor room epic. You will be surprised by the entertainment value and depth that is hidden in here.

Grade: A.

The Hateful Eight is now playing.

On a side note, when I saw The Hateful Eight in its true 70mm roadshow version last week, my audience was pleasantly surprised with an appearance by Quentin Tarantino himself. I took the chance to record as much of his appearance as possible so I can share it. Be warned that there are some spoilers to the film as well as other Tarantino films. I hope you like it!