The Hateful Eight: Is it Pretty Great?

Forgive that title.

If you ever see an interview with Quentin Tarantino you’d see that he’s one of the most egotistical people in Hollywood. It just seems unfair that he’s happened to earn that ego through his brilliance as a screenwriter and to a lesser extent, director. He’s only made eight films and his eighth is appropriately called The Hateful Eight, a western-mystery that’s full of excellent plotting, suspense and characters.

In Wyoming, a bounty hunter John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell wearing his mustache from Tombstone) is transporting a fugitive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to the town of Red Rock ahead of a blizzard. He always brings his bounties in alive to watch them hang, thus earning his nickname. Along the way their coach picks up another bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) and new Red Rock sheriff Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). Eventually they’re forced to stop at Minnie’s Haberdashery a lodge some miles from Red Rock where they take up for the duration of the blizzard with a quartet of mysterious strangers: Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), Bob (Demián Bichir) and General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern). But it’s not long before they become suspicious as they talk to each other and Ruth begins to suspect one of them is plotting to free Domergue.

As is the case with most of Tarantino’s films The Hateful Eight is very well-written, particularly in the dialogue. Once again, these are very strange characters and their interactions off each other make for both a lot of great humour and tension. And he also brings a classical influence. Not only in his shooting the movie on film (with the very lens that shot Ben-Hur no less!), but also the style. Like how the film is divided into chapters. The whodunnit premise isn’t all that original but the way it’s executed is unconventional and keeps you on your toes. The small collection of characters trapped in an isolated place while there’s a mystery unfolding set-up reminds me a lot of one of my favourite novels, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, but not enough so as to become predictable. And like that novel, this is a movie I’d love to see or perform on stage given its limited setting and focus on characters.

The Hateful Eight does have the right title as none of the characters are very likable and if you think they are, you’ll be proven wrong. Casting was a big part of why this film works and most of the performances are superb. There are three of particular note though. Leigh is fantastic as this eccentric captive being at some times sympathetic while at other times disturbing. It’s probably one of the best performances of the year. Then there’s Goggins who brings a lot of humour as this fast-talking sheriff, but winds up stealing the show a number of times. And Roth is glorious, adding nice little touches like the way he carries himself around and his constant teeth-gritted grin. And with him and Madsen present, it’s like a mini Reservoir Dogs reunion. Though of the actors, Madsen might be the weak link. He hasn’t been in a major film in a while and it shows. But it’s not poor enough to bring the film down.

The soundtrack for this film was composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone whose iconic score for Sergio Leone’s Dollars trilogy is a western classic. It fittingly sets the mood for both the suspense and the action. And there is action, this being a Tarantino film after all, meaning you can expect a fair degree of gruesome violence. But it doesn’t distract from how meticulously plotted this script is, how fascinating the characters are, and how little clues are scattered throughout that keep you guessing. And I love films that can challenge me that way.