Review: "Django Unchained"

Bold, irreverent, and badass, for lack of a better word. What do all of these words have in common, you ask? They all describe Quentin Tarantino's latest directorial effort, Django Unchained, starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Kerry Washington, among many others. Though loosely based on Sergio Corbucci's spaghetti western Django starring Franco Nero, it certainly is a film Tarantino put his trademark seal on, and he even gives the film the more accurate label of a "southern." Rampant pop culture references, profuse profanity, aesthetic violence, and hilarious dialogue are only a sampling what appear in this film. However, I stall; let's get to the important stuff. The film starts focusing on a march of slaves led by two white overseers, the Speck Brothers. In their group is a battered slave named Django, played by Jamie Foxx. They are soon met by a German "dentist," Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz of Inglourious Basterds fame). Schultz buys Django, and quickly dispatches the Specks. He then reveals to Django that he purchased him because Django has seen the Brittle brothers, a gang who Schultz, actually a bounty hunter, seeks to kill and return for an award. If Django helps him, he will win his freedom and Schultz will help him reunite with his wife Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). They find out she is being kept by Calvin Candie, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, at his plantation Candieland, where men are trained to fight and women are quickly turned into either cooks or earn an ill repute, so to speak. The acting is spot-on, and is deserving of awards. Foxx portrays his character in the beginning as fearful and with a bad past, but soon develops a thirst for revenge and displays unrestrained ferocity. Waltz, who made a name for himself in Hollywood as Hans Landa in Basterds and proceeded to destroy that reputation in cinematic flop The Green Hornet regains the audiences' respect as a cool-headed, slick businessman-type bounty hunter. However, the crown jewel of the cast is undoubtedly DiCaprio as Calvin Candie, who is a parody of a Southern Gentleman; while charming and strangely hospitable to his guests, he is actually a ruthless owner and has two major incidents early in his introduction, one in a fight between slaves and the other a particularly gruesome scene involving dogs. I expect an Oscar nod for his portrayal, and if he doesn't earn one, he certainly deserves it. There are also some excellent cameos, one from Don Johnson as a plantation owner (see here) and even one from Franco Nero. The plot itself is a classic revenge story, a formula Tarantino is fond of (Kill Bill, Vols. I and II, and Inglourious Basterds are both revenge stories)  but he always seems to make it interesting and it has not yet fallen flat. Next, we have the necessary Tarantino blood and guts. While devoid of any massacres of tyrannical political leaders,  it is very brutal, with some cotton getting a crimson mist courtesy of our heroes, and several gun battles leading to the climactic fight scene at Candieland, which managed to be entertaining without delving into Michael Bay territory. In addition to gunfights, there are some very disturbing scenes involving the treatment of slaves, and they are nothing short of sobering. This leads to the film's treatment of slavery and how Tarantino perceived it. For starters, the n-word is used, according to one count, 144 times, so don't expect it to be politically correct; Tarantino's movies never are and never will be, and that's fine. Of course, slavery was a dark period in American history, and he makes us confront that fact. This is pretty heavy material, and I may do an analysis on it in the near future. Nonetheless if you can take one thing out of it, it's that slavery is/was evil, and its role in American history is unsavory but we cannot discount it. Of course, the movie has plenty of interesting tidbits, such as some humorous exchanges between the characters, some quotable one-liners, and an eclectic soundtrack featuring Rick Ross, John Legend, Frank Ocean, and Johnny Cash. Also, try counting the references. You'll lose count an eighth in.

Consensus: Django Unchained may not reach the heights of classics like Pulp Fiction, but its story, theme, Tarantino trademarks, and riveting performances by the lead actors make it a award-worthy film and one of his best. 

Rating: 5/5