Django Unchained – Movie Review

Ohhh, Quentin, Quentin, Quentin.

Let’s be frank – this is not a film for the faint of heart or stomach, or spirit even, for that matter. This is a rough, tough, gory, (funny), controversial film about the ways and woes of slavery in MIssissippi before the Civil War. The story is that of Django ( a freed slave) and Dr. Schultz (a bounty-hunter) on the hunt for Django’s wife, who was sold into a farm far away. That farm belongs to Calvin Candie. Okay, I am already doing a poor job of explaining the storyline. Basically, these two guys try to get Django’s wife back while operating under a facade as Mandango fighters. The result is a hoax gone awry and lots (LOTS) of angry gunfire.

The pros? Leonardo DiCaprio, Samuel L. Jackson, Christoph Waltz, Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington phenomenally playing characters with powerful, endearing stories.

The cons? Lots of splattering blood, exploding body parts and an excessive use of “the n-word.” And I mean so much of the aforementioned, that it kind of makes you shake your head in a mix of confusion, overwhelment and exhaustion.

If you’re a Tarantino fan, then of course you took all of these pros and cons with a laughable grain of salt. If you’re not, well then someone should have warned you! I liked it. I liked everything about it. There was a ridiculous level of superiority to both the cinematography and the score. The screenplay was creative, witty and sly. And in true QT fashion, it made you giggle when you should probably have shaken your head, and in the very next moment jump as someone’s head gets blown off.

Is it historically accurate? Absolutely not. Does it evoke some thoughts on slavery and exploitation? Well, of course. In the end, let’s remember that Hollywood is Hollywood. Movies are for entertainment. And when it’s not built as a true story, let’s not argue that it wasn’t.

I will always appreciate what Tarantino does, and I’ll do so with full admittance that it’s wildly inappropriate, politically incorrect and downright offensive to the greater good. But you what? It’s refreshing that there is still someone out there willing to do that.