So the controversy started even before this movie opened. I’m not sure why… it’s Quentin Tarantino ya know…

Django Unchained is the story of a slave who is intent to rescue and reunite with his wife. It’s an adventure. 🙂 Over the course of this adventure, we meet a series of slave owners, slaves and even a few hillbillies – all very colorful characters, but, that too is to be expected for this subject matter, set in 1858.

Story: I don’t care what anyone says, the writers nailed the dialogue for this film. It was witty and entertaining and authentic. What you expect from a film set in the deep south before the end of slavery is what you get… Language and all.

I think Quentin Tarantino is evolving nicely from his days of gratuitous violence into scene-appropriate violence. Given the subject matter of his last two films – Inglorious Basterds and Django – there was more than enough real-life violence to go around.

So he’s covered Hitler’s SS and slavery; What’s next… Mussolini and Pol Pot?

Performances: Jamie Foxx was great as Django, but, not the most believable or entertaining of the characters. It was 1858. He was a bit too cocky and confident even given his status as a free slave being mentored by a white, German bounty hunter. Even freed slaves were a bit reticent around whites in that time…

Christophe Waltz – The white, German bounty hunter – was every bit believable and entertaining. Like his character in Inglorious Basterds, his repartee was quick and precise and fun to watch. But, the real fun was the slave owners…

Don Johnson as Big Daddy and Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie made the movie for me. These were character; They were characters! And while their performances were just so over the top, people like them really did exist as-is in the deep south in 1858. For that matter, if you’ve spent any time in the south, you may have come across modern versions of people exactly like them. It’s a gregarious style that you can only find in the south…

And a special mention for Samuel L. Jackson as head slave for Calvin Candie at Candieland. Now, SLJ didn’t deviate too far from his usual foul-mouthed, coarse attitude dude, but, it was exactly the right style for the setting. Of all the casting in this film, SLJ was the most spot-on…

Visual: It’s not a film with a lot of special effects, but, in typical Tarantino style, there is a lot of gore, blood and guts. Thankfully, as mentioned earlier, he’s figured out how to balance gory with the context of the scene and the story. Having said that, every opportunity QT could find to shoot someone and spew blood as far as it could travel, he did it.

And again, the scenery was spot-on. It looked like Mississippi in 1858 and it sounded like Mississippi in 1858. Jamie Foxx even looked like he was an expert equestrian… spot on…

Rating: This film gets a B+. The first hour-and-a-half was without criticism – fully entertaining. But, like many QT films, it got a bit long and at some point, lost its way before coming back to center and wrapping up. But it is a must see…

The larger-than-life slave owners or the scene with the bickering KKK mob are great fun, but, the historical relevance of this film shouldn’t be lost. Between this film and Lincoln, I feel like slavery is the flavor of the month. And that’s ok because, the period of time for which these films portray is one of the most significant in U.S history and the more we know about it, the richer we become as a society. Not to mention, there’s just not enough quality, original work coming out of Hollywood anyway, so…

See it while it’s still in theatres – don’t wait for it to come out on DVD – go now!