(2007)
written and directed by Quentin Tarantino
reviewed by Adam Armstrong
7.27.09
What’s better than an 18-minute car chase? An
18-minute car chase with a woman strapped to the hood of one of the cars.
Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) has a big scar and a cool car. The thing about his car is
that no matter what happens to it you can’t die. The only catch is that you
have to be sitting in the driver’s seat. More bad news: Stuntman Mike likes to
run his car as fast as he can into yours, which probably isn’t death proof.
Only Stuntman Mike runs into a group of women that want to fight back.
As with all Tarantino movies, Death Proof was rich in dialogue and
characterization. This movie is dialogue heavy with some action tossed about
here and there much like Reservoir Dogs. Overall it was a nice turn on the slasher genre. I started to feel sorry for Stuntman Mike
near the end, which is a very strange way to feel about an antagonist in a slasher flick. The two things that can really be picked up
from this movie are: never ride with your legs out the window of a car, and
that Zoe
Bell (who plays
herself in the movie) is the greatest stuntwoman out there right now.
Not bad but not great: 4 out of 5