Django Unchained - (December 25,
2012): R
Distributor: The Weinstein Company
Opening Weekend Box Office: #2 with $30,688,000
Domestic Box Office Gross to-date: $82,385,310
Gross Revenue: $82,385,310
Production Budget: $100 million
Director: Quentin
Tarantino
Full
Review
Though he is well established within the comedy and
drama genres, Jamie Foxx isn’t exactly the first name associated with
gun-slinging action or vigilante justice, so his turn as a freed slaved and
badass bounty hunter may have been a bit of a stretch for potential audiences
of Django Unchained, but there was
more than enough intriguing casting to help fill theaters. If you want to talk about cast members of
Quentin Tarantino’s newest project acting outside of their comfort zone, the
biggest question mark had to lie with Leonardo DiCaprio; the perpetual
crowd-pleaser would be unleashing his inner villain, and by all early accounts,
the talented actor knocked his role out of the park and earned some serious
future awards recognition…color me intrigued.
Foxx and DiCaprio playing against type aside, the biggest personal selling
point for this Christmas release involved Christoph Waltz…he may have been
great in Inglorious Basterds, but his
follow-up work has been shamefully sub-par; suffice it to say that a reunion
with Tarantino could not have come soon enough.
From a marketing standpoint, trailers and other promotions for Django
promised an exciting and downright fun time at the theater, a welcome reprieve from
more serious Holiday releases like The
Hobbit and Les Misérables, so
between cast, narrative tone, and positive early critical reaction, Tarantino
was virtually guaranteed a strong opening.
Granted, the controversial subject matter did act as a turn-off for some
(including director Spike Lee, who publically declared a boycott of the film on
the grounds of opposition to racism…how ironic), but as I mentioned earlier, my
faith in Quentin Tarantino has strengthened significantly over the past few
years, so I was excited for Django
Unchained.
Set a few years before the beginning of the Civil
War, Django Unchained opens with Dr.
King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) ambushing a slave convoy and freeing a battered
slave named Django (Jamie Foxx); Schultz is a brutal yet charismatic bounty
hunter who needs Django’s assistance in locating and identifying dangerous
fugitives known as the Brittle Brothers.
In exchange for his help, Schultz offers Django his freedom, a share of
the sizable bounty, and aid in locating and liberating Django’s beloved wife,
Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). After the
successful execution of the Brittle Brothers, Django and Schultz begin
searching for Broomhilda, meanwhile partnering on a number of bounties, during
which Django showcases considerable talent and Schultz declares his distaste
for slavery. Finally locating Broomhilda
at a plantation owned by the charming Calvin Candie (Leonardo DiCaprio), known
as “Candyland,” Schultz and Django masquerade as potential buyers for one of
Candie’s prized fighting slaves (so that they may withdraw Broomhilda without
incident) but they garner considerable suspicion from Candie’s head slave,
Stephen (Samuel L. Jackson). As the plan
begins to unravel, Django and Schultz must rely on whit and nerve to survive
and accomplish their goal, for neither of them has ever encountered the type of
violence, hatred, or racism that saturates Candyland.
I am usually not a huge fan of Western films, but
with Django Unchained, Quentin
Tarantino pays wonderful homage to the genre, all while injecting a distinctly
modern style that utilizes enjoyable characters, irreverent humor, and
engrossing violence to deliver one of the biggest surprises to hit theaters this
year. Jamie Foxx more than delivers an
entertaining and cheer-worthy hero in Django, but the true brilliance of the
cast is shown through Christoph Waltz and Leonardo DiCaprio, as both deliver a mix
of charm and brutality in their performance; where Waltz wins you over as a
conflicted anti-hero, DiCaprio is downright unnerving as a villain who starts
off affable and then transitions to downright psychotic. The other scene stealer within the narrative
is Samuel L. Jackson as the racist and venomous house slave, Stephen, an
inclusion that added both humor and depth to the film in the form of another
complicated villain; I for one would have loved to watch his scenes being
filmed, because I guarantee that there is no way he was able to deliver most of
his irreverent, vile, and hysterical lines in one take or with a straight face. In fact, given the seriousness of the subject
matter, I was impressed by just how much humor appeared in Django Unchained without its usage coming off as unnecessary or
goofy, thereby providing balance to all the gore and seriousness; one scene in
particular, involving a confused posse of masked KKK bandits and a surprise
A-list cameo, offered a bigger laugh than most “comedies” can hope to
achieve. Now, in showcasing such a
controversial time in American history, Django
Unchained could easily have come across as nothing more than a celebration
of racism and slavery, but Tarantino was cleverly able to mold his film in such
a way that soapbox critics should just unclench and enjoy the ride.
Make no mistake, for as fun a film as Django Unchained truly is, I believe
that any parent allowing a young child into the theater should be punished,
because I’m pretty sure that the script was one more bullet hole and racial
slur away from garnering an NC-17 rating; if you are at all easily offended by
language or squeamish at the sight of blood, this is NOT the movie for
you. Some critics have lambasted the
film as a glorification of slavery, but I don’t know how anyone who actually
watches the film can make that argument, because 99% of the violence
perpetrated in the film is against the slave owners and the cruel handlers; Django
and Schultz gruesomely punish countless people, and that level of action and
violence is awesome when it is perpetrated on someone the audience deems as
deserving. In fact, the levels of
violence mix with other elements that are so gratuitous and ridiculous that it
is clear the film isn’t meant to be taken too seriously…I mean, c’mon, how can
you not enjoy a scene in which Django gun-slings his way through hordes of
plantation guards in slow motion while contemporary rap-music plays? Also, with a near-3 hour running time, you
might be tempted to think that the film is a chore to sit through, but rest
assured that energy levels are kept high enough to fully immerse you in the
story and help you completely forget the considerable lapse of time…Peter
Jackson sure as hell didn’t pull that off with The Hobbit. If I went
through every element of Django Unchained
with a fine-tooth comb, I’m sure other shortcomings would present themselves,
but the truth is that the film is simply too entertaining for me to care about small
inconsistencies.
As a true box office contender during the coveter
Christmas Day opening, no one was expecting an R-rated Tarantino gore-fest
about slavery to outperform a PG-13 star-studded musical, but the validation of
those expectations shouldn’t take away from the truly impressive $30 million
weekend haul. There is still some ways
to go to cover the full $100 million production budget, but Tarantino has to be
impressed with the performance of his newest project, especially when you
consider the fact that Django Unchained
is currently outperforming Inglorious
Basterds in a day-to-day showdown. I
actually expect positive word of mouth to keep theater attendance very strong,
especially throughout the lackluster January 4th release weekend…true
competition won’t hit until Gangster
Squad and Zero Dark Thirty
release next week. And for as many times
as Leonardo DiCaprio has been overlooked for an Oscar, I really hope to see him
earn some serious recognition for his work in the coming months. Thoroughly unique and shamefully
entertaining, do not let yourself miss Django
Unchained!
Overall
Recommendation: Very High
