Film Review - Death Proof
Starring Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan, Sydney Poitier and Zoe Bell | Directed by Quetin Tarantino | Dimension DVD WS Unrated
Review By Juliet
The extended version of Tarantino’s contribution to Grindhouse starts off promising enough. Grainy shots of tits, asses in short shorts and feet (well, it is a Tarantino film) are set to a soundtrack of obscure rock and roll. Shanna and Jungle Julia are taking their friend Butterfly out for a night on the town in Texas. Blah blah blah…no, literally. For once I’m not just using that to take up space while I summarize the plot. The next chunk of the film is devoted to talking and lots of it. The dialogue is your typical Tarantino stuff. On the one hand, it’s great, but on the other hand, I thought this was grindhouse movie; where’s the action?
The film is saved (as we’ll soon, see time and time again), by Kurt Russell’s character, Stuntman Mike. Stuntman Mike is the creepy guy at the bar trying to convince everyone that he’s not creepy. He succeeds in convincing Pam that he’s okay to give her a ride home…and then the terror (briefly) begins. Mike the Stuntman proves to be the creepy sociopath we were all hoping for as he kills Pam with his wreckless driving and then goes after Butterfly and co, hitting them head on with his so-called death proof car. One really nice touch is that the cops investigating the crash are the very same father and son duo who are first on the scene after the Bride’s wedding goes awry in Kill Bill.
Now we get a bit ridiculous. Remember everything that happened in the last 2 paragraphs? Well that was actually just an intro. The real story happens 14 months later when our fantastic antihero, Stuntman Mike decides he’s after a new set of ladies. This time instead of being down home barflies, his targets are a group of showbiz gals in Texas on a film shoot. After round two of unnecessary dialogue that reminded me more of Sex and the City than of grindhouse, the girls decide to go check out an authentic Dodge Challenger (like the one in Vanishing Point). This is the perfect chance for Stuntman Mike to make his attack. What he doesn’t count on is that two of the girls are actual stuntwomen, with Zoe Bell playing herself. Pretty soon the tables are turned, and it’s Stuntman Mike who has to drive for his life.
I wanted to like this movie, I really did. However, the thought I couldn’t get out of my mind the entire time I was watching was BORING. Like I said before, the dialogue, while being very typically Tarantino, went on forever and was really about nothing. It probably would’ve worked in a different movie from Quentin, but it really just got in the way when I went in expecting grindhouse-esque gore and action. There were, however, two big saving graces in this film. First of all, Tarantino always delivers when it comes to soundtracks. He chooses some gems that both fit the scenes well and make my music nerd radar go off. Second but more importantly, Kurt Russell was amazing as Stuntman Mike. Russell is just amazing, making such a downright icky character totally loveable.
The DVD is worth checking out with a second disc full of special features that kept me more entertained than the actual movie. Features on Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike and real life stuntwoman Zoe Bell are definitely worth your time. Overall, I was very disappointed by this movie. It really felt like Tarantino was trying too hard to be Tarrantino. However for collectors who’ll want to complete the Grindhouse pair with Robert Rodriguez’s vastly superior Planet Terror, Death Proof is worth a buy.