Sam Jackson Goes To Whole New Level in Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight”

Can someone please give Samuel Jackson an Oscar, already? Jackson, who has consistently delivered knock-out performances over the last twenty-five years does not disappoint in his latest role as Major Marquis Warren in Quentin Tarantino's latest film The Hateful Eight. In fact, he rises to whole new level. The movie is a three-hour epic that includes a twelve minute intermission in its “roadshow” iteration. It takes place in blizzard conditions in the mountains of Post-Civil War Wyoming. Warren, a bounty hunter, falls into some trouble as he is transporting the bodies of three of his “clients” to the town of Red Rock in order to collect his fee. Caught in the Wyoming blizzard, his horses succumb to the harsh weather conditions. Lucky for him, a stagecoach carrying another bounty hunter, John Ruth (Kurt Russell) and his fugitive captive Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) crosses his path. Ruth begrudgingly gives Warren a ride after taking a gander at a letter supposedly written to Warren from President Abraham Lincoln himself. Later on in their journey, they come across another unlucky soul who got caught in the blizzard. Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who comes from a notorious crime family, proclaims that he is also on the way to Red Rock as he has just been made Sheriff of that town. Although Ruth remains not totally convinced, Mannix is also allowed on the stagecoach. They make their way to shelter at Minnie’s Haberdashery, a rest stop. Surprisingly, Minnie (Dana Gourrier) and her partner “Sweet Dave” (Gene Jones) are not there. They are greeted a vaquero called Bob (Demian Bichir) who tells them that Minnie and Dave have gone out of town to visit Minnie’s mother. Also present are Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), and General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern). They are all waiting out the storm at Minnie’s. Almost from the beginning though, we sense that things aren’t adding up. When some of the characters inexplicably explosively vomit up blood and keel over dead within a few minutes of each other, there is obviously something very wrong. At this point, Warren goes into Sherlock Holmes mode. Director Tarantino says Jackson described it to him as “Hercule Negro”. This is, of course, a play on the name of the famous Agatha Christie character Detective Hercule Poirot. Warren sets about unraveling the source of their mysterious deaths as well as uncovering the true reason behind Minnie and Dave’s trip out of town.

The cast’s -and particularly Jackson’s, strong performances are all the more impressive when you consider that that movie takes place in only three settings- inside the stagecoach, outside the stagecoach against the backdrop of the mountainous wintry landscape, and inside the one-room cabin that houses Minnie’s Haberdashery. Further, the total running time for this film is 182 minutes. That’s three hours. Jackson, with the help of a stellar cast, holds your attention for pretty much the whole ride. It gets a little slow at some points during the first half but not very much. The juxtaposition between the wide open, snow-covered vista they traverse to get to Minnie’s and the small space in which they are trapped for most of the film, makes for an interesting dynamic. Except for Daisy, no one is physically shackled but the weather outside is so fearsome, that they have no choice but to remain inside.

There are some awkward moments with the dialogue. John Ruth refers to Warren as a “black fella”. We get it that Ruth possesses an anachronistic level of racial tolerance, but in Post-Civil war Wyoming, even he might have used the N-word-- or at least would have used “Negro” or “Colored” to refer to what has now come to be known as an African-American. The Oxford Dictionary reports that negro was, “the standard term throughout the 17th-19th centuries”. Also,there was a little bit too much exposition in the stagecoach and although his performance in general was impressive, Goggins overdoes it with the southern accent during the more charged scenes. Another thing that is a bit problematic is the treatment of the female characters. Daisy is on screen for the whole film and is physically assaulted numerous times. Even taking into account the fact that Tarantino’s films are known for a lot of violence, some of the violence against Daisy feels unnecessary to the story. Only three other females are in the three hour film and are on-screen for less than fifteen minutes.

The film is the first shot in 70mm in twenty years. This format captures twice as much space as normal and for the external shots of the mountains and snow, is a perfect choice. The Hateful Eight displays filmmaking mastery from sets to cinematography to costumes to acting to the score and soundtrack. Jackson’s character has the effect of a quasi-superhero and his black flat-top hat, white leather gloves, red cravat, and navy wool cape accented by bursts of bright yellow enhances the superhero feel. Ennio Morricone’s score creates palpable tension and at times evokes the feel of the old “spaghetti westerns”. It is the first complete original score for a Tarantino film. There is also the wonderful “There Won’t Be Many Coming Home” by Roy Orbison, “Apple Blossom” by The White Stripes, and a foreboding rendering of “Jim Jones at Botany Bay” by Jennifer Jason Leigh.

The Hateful Eight is now available for viewing on various digital platforms.

#samueljackson #quentintarantino #TheHatefulEight #KurtRussell #JenniferJasonLeigh #WaltonGoggins #TimRoth #EnnioMorricone #spaghettiwestern #FILM #VIDEO