I was lucky to see an advanced screening of the 3 hour plus "roadshow version" of THE HATEFUL EIGHT which was shown in 70mm and includes an intermission. There will also be a "mall version" which will be slightly shorter. And my understanding is that the "roadshow version" is not only longer, but has some alternate takes and angles from the "mall version".

 

Like Quentin Tarantino's previous pictures, THE HATEFUL EIGHT is very entertaining. There are many great, memorable moments and sequences. He has assembled an incredible lead cast including 5 QT regulars - Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen and Walton Goggins and 3 newcomers - Jennifer Jason Leigh, Bruce Dern and Demian Bichir. Leigh's Daisy Domergue, Jackson's Major Warren and Russell's John Ruth were the standouts for me.  

 

The Ultra Panavision cinematography is absolutely gorgeous. QT and 3 time Oscar winner, DP Robert Richardson, make great use of this wide frame, the widest possible, 2.76:1. There is so much going on in every frame. Even in a close-up, you can see something going on in the background on one side of the frame or other.  

 

The score by the brilliant composer Ennio Morricone, the first time QT has used an original score, works quite well though surprisingly it is very much a Giallo sounding score as opposed to a Spaghetti Western one.

 

The problem with THE HATEFUL EIGHT is that it is self indulgent and unnecessarily long. There are plenty of great 3 hour pictures that have a strong story to support their running time. That is not the case here. The only reason this picture is 3 hours long is that QT is in love with every line of his dialogue. This results in characters making speeches throughout the picture to people who likely wouldn't actually sit or stand there for these ridiculously long speeches. It is also very repetitive. Walton Goggins who has done brilliant work for years on JUSTIFIED with some of the best dialogue on television is a victim of that indulgence. His character is repetitive and annoying here.

 

There are some fun cameos in the picture and I particularly enjoyed Zoe Bell who is literally bouncing with energy and James Parks as the unappreciated stagecoach driver, O.B. It is also great to see Lee Horsley on the big screen. And we get to see Channing Tatum in a different light and he handles QT's dialogue quite well.

 

There is a murder mystery aspect to THE HATEFUL EIGHT and I have heard comparisons to Agatha Christie. When one of the characters "solves" the mystery, he uses information from his past personal experience. The problem is that none of that is in the picture that we are watching. So instead of planting in clues early in the story that perhaps the audience can pick up on and come to their own conclusion, there are no clues and all of the evidence is in a monologue late in the film. This makes for a very unsatisfying murder mystery. It's a lot more fun when the audience can participate and has actual evidence that they can use to point to one person or another. Doing it this way comes off as lazy.  

 

While THE HATEFUL EIGHT is self indulgent and way too long, it is also very entertaining and full of great work from Jennifer Jason Leigh, Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell who are working with an incredible, but less developed, supporting cast. If this picture was two hours and change, I expect it would be significantly better. I'm curious to see the "mall version" which is apparently 20 minutes shorter, but I don't know that 20 minutes will make a real difference. 

STARRING:

Samuel L. Jackson

Kurt Russell

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Walton Goggins

Demián Bichir

Tim Roth

Michael Madsen

Bruce Dern

James Parks

Channing Tatum

 

DIRECTED BY:

Quentin Tarantino

 

RELEASE DATE:

December 25, 2015

 

STUDIO:

The Weinstein Company

 

RATED R