Director: Quentin Tarantino
Reviewer: Russell Gaylord
Death Proof is the other half of the Grindhouse double bill, along with Planet Terror . The plot is based around two separate sets of women being stalked by a stuntman with a “death proof” car. The stuntman character – Stuntman Mike – is admirably played by Kurt Russell, who gives a solid performance.
That’s the positives out the way. What was wrong with this movie? Well, quite a lot. The 70’s vibe which the film tried to emit was schizophrenically bundled together with characters using mobile telephones. For our younger readers, mobile telephones were not around in the 1970’s and are a relatively new invention. This would have been quirkily excusable had the characters been loveable, the plot inventive, or the dialogue solid. Tarantino failed in all three areas.
It was hard to gain a rapport with the main characters in the movie, mostly due to the diatribe which was spilling from their gobs in every scene. Their speeches – for they were rarely conversations – were over-Tarantino’d. Quentin needs to reign in his rants and hire a good editor to cut back the “Tarantinoism” of his screenplays; this may make his scenes less yawn-inducing in the future.
Staying with the characters, the introduction of an antipodean pseudo-lesbian stunt girl into the second half of the movie makes even the loosest of arses clench. Annoying, annoying, annoying. Just plain wrong. Even the ever-gorgeous Rosario Dawson let herself down in this movie – and what was with that fringe?
As for the plot, well, it had potential but never fulfilled it. I think if this movie had been played less for laughs (a strategy that failed) and maybe concentrated on being a bit less kitsch, then Quentin may have had something here.
So what next for Quentin Tarantino? As mentioned, he needs to have someone make his dialogue less Tarantino-ish – and this will take an enormous slice of humble pie. Make no mistake, this man needs another smash hit like a zombie needs to suck blood. This reviewer, however, needs another gash Tarantino movie like he needs a third nut.