Here is a list of right things I found I didn’t like about this movie.
- Inconsistency in dialect – Jennifer Jason Leigh’s character says a particular word one way toward the start and says it totally different at the end. I’ll let you guess what that word is.
- Cabin problems – The atmosphere at the cabin is obviously very cold , as told by the amount of vapor that can be seen when characters talk. Yet, they have a tiny fire going in the fire place, which almost no one is crowding around. No one is ever seen even adding a log to the fire. Furthermore, there are huge slits in the walls which expose the room directly to the outside blizzard. Those cracks would be stuffed in no time.
- Poison – They never establish C.B.’s face so when he starts dying of the poison, we have no idea who it is. I thought it was the Mexican character for a while.
- Gore – The gore is cartoonish and takes away from the movie.
- Leap in logic – When the Samuel Jackson character goes on his story-telling mission to trap the Confederate General into getting himself killed, no one so much as says a word. They don’t pipe up at all. In fact they disappear completely. Kurt Russel’s character, who is clearly in charge up this point, never makes a peep. The Hangman character, who went out of his way to make peace earlier in the movie also doesn’t say anything. It’s not logical that these two characters would stay quiet and let this farce happen.
- Zoe Bell. She is a doll and a real firecracker. But, she does not belong in movies. It’s like “take your daughter to work day” on set.
- Michael Madsen – Tarantino trying to shove this 70 year old man with dyed black hair and emphysema into his movies is tiring. He tries to play cute with his hair flipping back every five seconds but guess what? This isn’t 1993 anymore. You’re old. Give it up.
- Minnie and family – These characters were also cartoonish and not believable. They were clearly an afterthought. Those folks were not people who worked all day in the wild frontier. They were Hollywood casting at $250 per diem.
Still with all of those problems irritating me, I found room to like the movie somewhat. The dialogue is rich. They did a great job of establishing the extreme cold. I felt myself getting cold just watching. And even though the movie is 2 hours and 40 some minutes long, it was needed to tell the story. Although, I would have showed the brother’s gang headed toward town at the end.
In the end, if the movie keeps you entertained and tells an interesting story, that is all that matters. Kurt Russel was great. He is great in almost everything he does.
And of course Ennio Muricone’s sound music was great.
