MMM: Inglorious Basterds (2009)

Starring

Brad Pitt, Christoph Waltz, Mélanie Laurent, Diane Kruger

In Brief

World War II if Tarantino had a chance at writing it. Inglorious Basterds is the entirely fictional tale of a group of Jewish American soldiers conducting guerilla warfare in Nazi-Occupied France. Their methods are brutal, they take no prisoners, kill everyone and scalp the dead. When an opportunity to kill the entire German high command in one fell swoop presents itself, the ‘Basterds’, as they are known, can’t resist. They enlist the help of a German double agent, an actress with high standing amongst the Nazis. Meanwhile, a Jewish refugee who witnessed her parents being killed has her own plans for Nazis.

The Beef

Pulp Fiction is still Tarantino’s best movie. But if someone asked me to name a movie that epitomizes his style of narration and directing … I’d pick Kill Bill. Still, Inglorious Basterds is classic Tarantino. The gore, the imagery, the characters and most of all the long, tension-riddled scenes of dialogue in Inglorious Basterds are Tarantino working at his best.

This is the second time I’ve seen this movie (a first for the MMM segment) and generally it’s necessary for me to watch Tarantino (and Guy Ritchie movies, for that matter) a few times before I can decide whether I like them, but this one I like a lot.

The only down side, and it’s a big enough down side to be the only thing keeping this film from a 5th star, was Brad Pitt. Pitt’s character acting was absolutely awful. In a movie where everyone else on screen absolutely shined, especially Mélanie Laurent and Christoph Waltz, Pitt’s acting really stood out – in a terrible way. I’m sure it was mostly the absurd accent that he was tasked with portraying convincingly. He simply wasn’t up to the task. As a result, his character (who, on paper, could have gone down in history as one of film’s great badasses) is mostly just annoying.

I like Brad Pitt, but he should stick to roles where his natural mannerisms and voice aren’t stretched.

4/5 (Good)

Weigh In

214 lbs.