CASEY PHILLIPS: Like all of director Quentin Tarantino’s films, “Inglourious Basterds” carries his signature sprawled across every frame. It’s a World War II homage to spaghetti westerns, but thanks to Tarantino’s penchant for smolderingly sexual, over-the-top violence, it would have made John Wayne blush. I loved it.
The film is rife with strong performances, but the strongest by far are those of Christoph Waltz as Col. Hans “Jew Hunter” Landa, a simpering, passive-aggressive, cold-blooded killer, and Brad Pitt’s equally cold-blooded but “OK because he’s killing ‘Nazees’ ” Lt. Aldo Raine. The two actors command near equal attention, making them almost perfect foils. You’ll be surprised how quickly 21⁄2 hours pass leading up to one of the most cathartic finales I’ve seen since “Return of the Jedi.”
HOLLY LEBER: Cathartic, but squirm-inducing, that finale. But despite my being the more squeamish of the two of us, I only had to look away for that one last scene. Yes, the film is violent — Tarantino isn’t exactly known for the puppies-and-rainbows genre — but it’s shot so stylishly, the violence almost turns you on rather than turning your stomach.
“Inglorious Basterds” is a popcorn flick, make no bones about that. It’s not going to the Oscars or move anyone to tears, but it’s a good popcorn flick, a really good one. And those are rare. It’s big while still feeling intimate, it’s violent but not gory, and it’s funny without being crass. Plus, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Hitler written with such amusing buffoonery, except maybe in “The Producers.”
CASEY: When a movie has buckets of gore and still earns high marks from Holly, you know it’s something special.
What I found most remarkable was how the film manages to demonize Nazis even as they’re being reduced to pulpy messes by baseball bats, having their scalps removed and just generally having bad stuff done to them. You really hate them, which is quite an accomplishment for a group villainized so frequently they’re almost caricatures of themselves. Much of this can be credited to Waltz, whose engrossing performance won him the Best Actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.
HOLLY: He was chilling, certainly, creepy and disarming. Pitt also turns in a great performance that, frankly, is more memorable than his Oscar-nominated turn as Benjamin Button. His Aldo Raines might be what happened if “Fight Club’s” Tyler Durden and “Burn After Reading’s” Chad Feldheimer had a baby and raised it skinning squirrels in East Tennessee.
It’s not easy to mastermind a massive slaughter in the same aloof manner as one might plan an office party, but French actress Laurent manages to do so and still earn sympathy as Shoshanna, a young Jewish woman whose family was massacred.
CASEY: Unfortunately, space restraints must stop us here, but gore-soaked though it is, “Inglourious Basterds” is an absolute can’t miss, as far as I’m concerned.
HOLLY: Hey, I was just happy it didn’t include oozing intestines. Tarantino’s got himself a pretty glorious movie here.
Holly Leber is a reporter and columnist for the Life section. She has worked at the Times Free Press since March 2008. Holly covers “everything but the kitchen sink" when it comes to features: the arts, young adults, classical music, art, fitness, home, gardening and food. She writes the popular and sometimes-controversial column Love and Other Indoor Sports. Holly calls both New York City and Saratoga Springs, NY home. She earned a bachelor of arts ...
Casey Phillips has worked as a features reporter in the Life department for three years. He writes about entertainment, young adults, animals and people of interest. Casey hails from Knoxville and earned a bachelor of science degree in journalism and a bachelor of arts in German. He previously worked as the features editor for Sidelines at Middle Tennessee State University. Casey received the East Tennessee Society of Professional Journalists Award of Excellence for Reviewing/Criticism in ...
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