The Hateful Eight * * *

To say anything bad about a Tarantino film makes me feel like an ungrateful spoilt brat. It's just that his work is so generous we come to expect contributions from him which are really special. Better than nearly everyone else. His films are rarely average.  However....

I really don’t know why Tarantino would want to do something like this. I mean, the guy is one of the most exciting film directors in the world.  Like Christmas we all look forward to a new Tarantino film. And when it comes out we expect a night at the movies as opposed to a night at the theatre.  But Hateful Eight is virtually a night at the theatre. If someone had told me that this was originally a stage play and Tarantino adapted it for the screen I’d believe it.

It is nearly all interior and basically two locations: Scene 1 The Stagecoach.  Scene 2  Minnie’s Haberdashery, which is virtually one room.

Hateful Eight is a bit of a “whodunnit” set in the wild west with lashings of splatter violence.  It has a plot which is not much more complicated than what you’re likely to see on any popular TV detective series. In fact it’s a bit corny.  Especially as we get toward the end with one character holding the rest of the cast in captivity as he sums up the events so far and eliminates certain characters from suspicion. If it weren't for Tarantino's huge reputation I doubt that a film like this would have got up; and even if it had it’d probably tank within a week.

The plot primarily revolves around a bad woman, Daisy Domergue, who is being transported by a bounty hunter to be given over to the authorities and hung.  (Some people who obviously don’t know much about acting, think Jennifer Jason Leigh deserves an award for this easy, slap-happy, one dimensional role… (got me beat)).  Due to a storm the stagecoach is held up at a stage-coach stop, Minnie's Haberdashery.  We soon learn that not everyone is who they claim to be, and pretty soon, in true Agatha Christie/Cluedo style, we’re trying to guess who’s been playing with the arsenic.

Like all Tarantino characters they are bigger than life, though the script lacks some of the sharp repartee we have come to expect from him.

There’s never been a Tarantino film I haven’t wanted to see at least twice. But I can’t see myself bothering to go see this one again.  It’s not bad, it’s just average.

I’ll stop pouting now.