The Hateful Eight

By: Robert Murphy

Have you ever wished that your westerns had a bit more of a murder mystery vibe to them? No? Well I didn't think I did either until I heard about Quinton Tarantino's The Hateful Eight. Set a short time after the end of the Civil War the movie centers around a reclusive mountain stop known as Minnie's Haberdashery where several men and one woman find themselves snowed in when death and mayhem breaks out.

Never has there been such a vipers den of characters when John Ruth "The Hangman" (Kurt Russel) finds himself in the possession of a bounty that is worth 10,000 dollars for one Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), a career making catch to be sure and one that would set him up nice for the remainder of his days. Well, luck just doesn't happen to be on his side for long as he tries to outrun a massive snow storm on his way to Red Rock, he would also find himself bumping into a fellow brother in arms Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson). To make matters worse though the ride becomes even more cramped when former Confederate raider Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) comes along for the ride, coincidentally also on his way to Red Rock to become the towns new sheriff. All of it is moot however as the storm catches up to all of them and they must spend a treacherous night surrounded by unfamiliar faces, a prospect John Ruth doesn't like one bit. 

Those unlucky few who have already found themselves trapped in the cozy little mountain cottage go by the names of General Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern), a former Confederate commander who is looking for his son; John Wayne imitator and apparent mama's boy Joe Gage (Michael Madson); Bob (Demian Bichir) a Mexican ranch hand who is left in charge of the homestead while Minnie and her husband Sweet Dave are away; and finally Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth) an English gentlemen and hangman bound for Red Rock to take care of business there.

Like I said, it's a real vipers den of mixed faced characters and all of them have their own secrets that are just bubbling under the surface but it takes some time to get to that point. The greater portion of the beginning of the film moves along at a snails pace, John Ruth and Major Marquis' dialogue is rather stilted and I felt like there were much better ways of going about these two coming together. The introduction of Marquis' Abraham Lincoln letter that comes into play on the carriage ride does lead to finer moments later on but it hardly seemed worth it when the two are droning on. Mannix's introduction along the way doesn't change my opinion of these first twenty to thirty minutes but once the ball starts to get rolling it really goes out of control in the best possible way. 

Once the whole crew becomes acquainted with one another they realize that they are all not necessarily going to be the best of friends, some way more so than others as we soon find out. When you put two former Confederates in a room with an African-American Major who spent a lifetime of cutting down southern bigots, you are going to run into some issues and vice versa. But, what makes the situation even better is that two of these characters stories coincide with one another and leads to Samuel L. Jackson giving one of the best monologues I have seen since Pulp Fiction. Is crazy, bizarre and in some areas just horrendously wrong and by the end of it you will be left with your mouth open and the sudden urge to curl up just like General Smithers does during the entire scene. 

This whole ordeal really sets the story on it's path however even with the Tarantino brand of guns, gore and general insanity. Major Marquis steps into the limelight and becomes the driving force for the story once the murdering starts and he begins to piece all the little inaccuracies with everyone's stories together bit by bit. The scene plays out just like an old school interrogation in the common room where Marquis lays out all the facts and the players in the game realizing that someone is trying to free Ms. Domergue before she finds herself at the end of a short drop and sudden stop. It's a great mix of actual Sherlock Holmes style investigation but in a less serious with a whole mix of racial overtones and well more of what Tarantino truly does best. 

Despite all of the general calamity there was a deeper message laid into the script about race rights in America during this era. Major Marquis' is many years ahead of his time when it comes to being an African American in this post Civil War era and he isn't afraid to show this. Even still he carries around the aforementioned Lincoln Letter that he received from the President himself when they exchanged letters. It is only later we discover there is a hidden purpose behind him actually carrying around this piece of parchment and it's a bit of a doozy, especially when it burns the bridge of the only friend Marquis had in this situation, John Ruth. It isn't a huge message but it is there, hidden in the writing, and it made for some very interesting points during the story. 

In any case the entire cast preforms at top notch levels, even Channing Tatum, who only appears briefly in the film as a surprise character. I have already sung the praises of Jackson's Marquis who made the greater portion of the story the exceptional piece that it was but he wasn't alone. Goggins too finds his sweet spot once the bodies start piling up and arguably almost becomes my favorite character in the story. Russel and Roth also enjoy playing around with their roles, one the grizzly old bounty hunter and the other being an overly dramatic Englishman. It's exactly what you would expect from this star studded cast and add to it this era of gun-slinging and murder mystery story, it makes The Hateful Eight a potent combination. 

Good:

- Top notch performances by the cast

- Insights into race issues in this era

- Funny dialogue and banter

- A potent combo, gun-slinging cowboy action and a murder mystery

Bad:

- Slow to start with the real interest not kicking into at least 40 minutes or more

Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10