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August 26, 2009

'Inglourious Basterds': daring, completely unique and fabulously entertaining

By STEVE OUELLETTE, Movie Review

There are two kinds of people in the world — those who think Quentin Tarantino is some kind of weird genius and those who don't see what the fuss is about.

One of those groups needs some sense knocked into it — possibly by an angry Jewish G.I. wielding a Louisville Slugger.

Tarantino's latest, "Inglourious Basterds," is a spectacularly original, darkly comic revenge fantasy based in occupied France during World War II.

Sure, it's self-indulgent as all get-out, with knowing nods and homages to a dizzying array of films that almost none of us will catch. It's also got moments of disturbing violence — including a baseball-bat death — to the point of cartoonishness.

"Inglourious Basterds," however, is also daring, completely unique and fabulously entertaining. It has vivid characters, crackling dialogue and a compelling message: Nazis suck.

Brad Pitt is the headliner in the cast, playing Aldo "The Apache" Raine, the hillbilly leader of a small band of Jewish-American soldiers who have dropped behind enemy lines to strike fear into the enemy with their stealthy and brutal commando raids.

It's a one-note character, but Pitt sells that one note for all it's worth and has never been funnier.

Still, the film really belongs to the bad guy. Austrian character actor Christoph Waltz plays Col. Hans Landa, a suave, smiling, calculating Gestapo officer known as "The Jew Hunter." Landa displays a lighthearted demeanor and drops easily among four different languages, but his every move is chilling — even ordering a glass of milk. Every scene Waltz is in is tense and hypnotic; he should be a shoo-in for a Best Supporting Actor nomination come Oscar time.

Previews and commercials may give the impression that "Inglourious Basterds" is nothing but Pitt's band of merry men disemboweling its way through Nazi territory, but that's actually only a small part of the proceedings. In a converging storyline, the very fine Melanie Laurent plays an escaped Jew who builds a new identity as the owner of a French movie theater and becomes the reluctant host of the premiere of a new Goebbels Nazi film.

The movie runs for just over two-and-a-half hours, but it never seems overlong. Tarantino offers long, languid, satisfying build-ups, particularly in the opening scene, when Landa questions a French farmer, and in a later scene when the Basterds meet Diane Krueger's ("National Treasure," "Troy") German-film-star-turned-Allied-spy in a dank basement tavern. The preliminaries are just as satisfying as the payoffs.

There are scenes in "Inglourious Basterds" that will make even the most seasoned viewer cringe (scalpings will do that), but it's nothing that fans of "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction" or "Grindhouse" aren't used to or expecting (and it's actually less bloody than "Kill Bill: Vol. I").

Certainly the film isn't for everyone. If you're in the group that doesn't like Tarantino, this probably won't change your mind. For those of us in the other group, however, this is an outrageous and memorable treat.

Rental Recommendation: I dare you to listen to the song "Stuck in the Middle With You" without thinking about Tarantino's classic debut film "Reservoir Dogs." Grade: A.

E-mail Steve Ouellette at: ouellette1918@gmail.com

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