Review: Django Unchained

Despite sharing a release date with the fantastic Les Miserables a mere two weeks after the juggernaut that is The Hobbit hit theaters, Django Unchained stood out as the most anticipated film of the holiday season, and with good reason. Quentin Tarantino’s spaghetti western tale of a slave-turned bounty hunter captivated audiences with simply the previews, and thankfully, the film meets the lofty expectations it set for itself. There is an aura around Tarantino’s films that is difficult to explain, but Django fits the Tarantino mold to a T and will sit nicely on the shelf with such classics as Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and Inglourious Basterds.

            Everything that we have come to expect from Tarantino is on full display in Django, and while the tactics don’t pave new ground, the film contains nary a dull moment. Filled with stylish, over-the-top violence and brilliantly witty dialogue, this is a near 3-hour film that you wish was 4. As he did in Inglourious Basterds, Christoph Waltz steals every one of his scenes, and plays the perfect outspoken partner to Jamie Foxx’s quiet, badass Django. The relationship that the two form throughout the course of the film is quite endearing, and it is one that only Tarantino could build given the circumstances that the two characters live with. While Waltz and Foxx are most assuredly the stars of Django, there is a colorful cast of characters around them, and their performances go a long way in telling this story.

            It’s not often we get to see Leo DiCaprio play the villain. What with his dashing good looks and boyish charm, one can understand why this is the case. In his role as plantation owner Calvin Candie, however, DiCaprio masterfully uses his charm to bring a sinister, snake-like side to the film. The character is simultaneously charming and evil, and Leo nails the dichotomy perfectly. Don Johnson is great in his brief role as the owner of a separate plantation, and Samuel L. Jackson (complete with fantastic make-up work), is so believable as Candie’s head slave Stephen that you truly forget it’s him. The casting could not be more perfect, and each of the actors involved gave their all, knowing full well that there would be at least a bit of controversy considering the film’s subject matter. This is the Inglourious Basterds of the mid-1800s, and though Spike Lee may have a problem with it, the film is never purposely disrespectful. Any and all comically exaggerated violence is reserved for scenes not involving the act of slavery, and the subject is presented in a historically accurate manner with a serious tone. Sure, this is a bloody, hysterical, fun-time picture that involves slaves, but slavery itself is never the butt of any joke.

            Django Unchained is equal parts buddy comedy, historical fiction, spaghetti western, and even superhero film, a mix of genres that not many other directors can pull off. Once again, you can feel the love that Tarantino has for classic cinema, and the homage he pays to the films most important to him is sincere. While Django does reference many other film styles, the unique combination is Tarantino’s trademark, and it works as well here as it ever has.

Score: 5/5