Reservoir Dogs ( * * * * )

While it didn't reach the heady cinematic heights Quentin Tarantino later achieved in Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs displayed the same chronology-bending techniques and had all the elements in place for that later success, except for one: scope. It pretty much all takes place in a garage, which gives the movie its strength. There's more than enough room in there for the characters to bounce off each other and deliver fantastically funny dialogue that has since been emblazoned on posters that adorn smelly dorm rooms across the country.

The Acting: Breakthroughs across the board. Madsen epitomizes sociopathic coolness. Lawrence Tierney, who beat his brother up in the parking lot one time and held Mister Blue's shirt over his head, is gruff beyond belief. Buscemi sealed his fate as the independent actor du jour for more than one jour--in fact, a decade later he's still in the mainstream and independent A-list. This may have been the one acting role outside of From Dusk Till Dawn where Tarantino himself didn't bite off more than he could bark. And Tim Roth and Harvey Keitel has a weird sort of non-sexual love affair as victim and savior, sadist and masochist, that ends in an honorable sacrifice straight out of Japanese samurai cinema.

The Story: It's a heist movie with no heist, and it works because everything that happens before and after the heist--in this universe, at least--is so much more interesting.

The Direction: Great. Tarantino-esque, even. (I said it. Now I can put Tarantino-esque references to rest. As an added bonus, I won't even mention that there's no Twin Peaks alum in this film...or ever again.)

Overall: It seems like this is one of those films that everybody sees whether they want to or not, so I probably don't need to say anything more, except that I think it's aged well and will continue to enjoy a cult following, and with good reason.

Tredekka Rules:

• Rule 4: Sweet Actor Bonus--Michael Madsen, +1 star
• Rule 5: Spitting = Good Acting, +1 star for Kirk Baltz as tortured policeman Marvin Nash. Makes you wonder if every generation is destined to have their own pop culture guy with his ear taken off, be it Blue Velvet or Van Gogh. May I add it's too bad Madsen didn't tie up Free Willy in a chair and cut his fucking fins off when he had the chance.
• Rule 6: Over The Top Acting Award--I'm giving this film +5 stars for the ensemble effort. Chris Penn, Tim Roth, Madsen, Keitel and Buscemi all do more than their share of scenery chewing.
• Rule 13: Spawned A Shitty TV Series Penalty, -5 stars. Which series? Take your pick. After this movie came out, everything had to be Tarantino-esque (shit, I said it again). Why does that reflect badly on this movie? It doesn't. So why punish it? Hey, I only make the rules, I can't bend them.
• Rule 16: The Paul Verhoeven "MORE BLOOD" Award; +1 point goes to Roth, who loses about six or seven more pints of blood than the average human has in his body. Go Robo!
• Rule 27 (NEW RULE): The Trunk Sees All Award--any Quentin Tarantino movie with a point of view shot from inside the trunk of a car, +1 star.

Tredekka Score: ( * * * * )