According to a New York Times article from August 15, the Weinstein boys have stretched themselves too thin among other ventures including fashion, TV and social networking websites. Somewhere along the line, the Hollywood wonder brothers forgot about what they do best, filmmaking.
With the opening weekend of “the new film by Quentin Tarantino,” The Weinstein Company saw an above-estimates $37.6 million take at the domestic box office with another $27.1 million abroad. The PR/marketing blitzkrieg leading up to the August 21st release certainly helped amp up anticipation, not to mention the hype over torture-horror prince, Eli Roth’s, supporting role, and of course Brad Pitt bringing back the goatee.
Is this the pure genius of Harvey and Bob orchestrating a comeback from the man who gave the world “Pulp Fiction”? Or are they riding on the coattails of a director who speaks to the generation of today’s 20 and 30-somethings?
All of the ingredients are in place. Brad Pitt as the lead. A World War II revenge story. The Jews taking names and scalping Nazis. And of course all of this in a time when fans drool for the Tarantino who gave us “Reservoir Dogs”. I can’t count “Death Proof;” “Grindhouse” was made for two people. Tarantino made “Death Proof” for Robert Rodriguez and Rodriguez made “Planet Terror” for Tarantino.
At the midnight showing of “Inglourious Basterds,” the theater at Sunset Place in Miami was packed with Tarantino lovers. With cheers as soon as the titles hit the screen and when the titles ended the film, this movie was about getting our Tarantino fix for the next 3-5 years. Though critics have been mixed, love it or hate it, the fans came out to support and the fans are who Bob and Harvey care most about (they pay the bills).
In “Inglourious Basterds,” instead of the gratuitous death count in “Kill Bill,” Tarantino opts for a small amount of violent, graphic kills. We knew this was coming from the trailer but had no idea how much we would squirm. Tarantino roles out his predictable story in a no-frills linear fashion without the joy of uncovering characters, interconnecting relationships and multiple story lines as in his previous efforts. He had his fun title fonts and contrasting music. He had his doses of comedy with violent absurdity.
This Tarantino film was like Tarantino on auto-pilot; Tarantino without soul. Depth to the characters was lacking and for a film about the “Basterds,” there could have been more time with them on the hunt. Regardless, Tarantino didn’t keep me guessing. Where was the moment when Butch Coolidge runs into Marselius Wallace on the street in “Pulp Fiction”?
“Inglourious Basterds” will give The Weinstein Company the boost they needed. We saw this coming. And after this film’s run at the box office, fans will agree that Tarantino still has “it”. The real question is whether Bob and Harvey Weinstein still have “it”. And they do, as long as you consider “it” to be Quentin Tarantino.
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