INGLORIOUS BASTERDS (2009)

Have you ever finished watching a movie on DVD and immediately regretted not having seen it in the theatre? Quentin Tarantino returns to form after the pitiful DEATH PROOF in this straightforward action narrative, most certainly intended to be experienced in a movie house, powered by spartan yet effective performances and a lean script. It struck me how different this movie would have turned out had brad Pitt not been cast as the figurehead of the titular band of guerrillas; aside from Mr. Pitt, the cast has zero name actors (unless you count Eli Roth). Knowing that Mr. Pitt was having a blast as the inexplicably effective ignoramus Aldo Raine made the movie much more enjoyable. While Mr. Pitt shines, it's Christoph Waltz, playing Col. Hans Landa, who is the driving force of the events in the film.

The opening sequence, in which Landa first crosses paths with with his future foil, Shoshanna Dreyfuss, vividly debuts the most cerebral and conniving villain of recent cinema. The nigh-monologue in which Landa convinces a seemingly sympathetic French farmer to give up the renegade Dreyfuss family hiding beneath his home is as effective a dialogue as Mr. Tarantio has ever written. Midway through the second act, we are treated to another scalpel-sharp sequence during a rendez-vous set in a subterranean bar, where cultural and class interactions along with flaring egos and short tempers cause a slow boiling atmosphere of discomfort to erupt into an inferno. Rare is the scene that is difficult to watch simply because of the fear of seeing an inevitable disaster unfurl before your eyes. The epic (in action rather than duration) third act, which whips along briskly despite a few unanticipated snags, gels so smoothly that it feels annotated when you realize that the end credits are rolling down the screen.

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS is a welcome departure from the recent output of Mr. Tarantino for numerous reasons, the most notable being the straightforward yet nimble approach to storytelling, showcasing an almost entirely linear sequence of events that immensely benefits the tempo of the film. While BASTERDS clearly exhibits some of the traits of other Tarantino projects, I hope that the narrative restraint shown here is a bellwether for his future projects. While not a single character here is one-half as well-developed as The Bride of KILL BILL, the experience as a whole is more enjoyable than almost any previous Tarantino venture. Keep up the good work, Mr. Tarantino, especially the not-casting-yourself part.