DEATH PROOF (2007)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Kurt Russell is Stuntman Mike, a mysterious stuntman who has appeared in countless flicks that few people have heard of. He frequents a bar run by none other than Quentin Tarantino himself. Stuntman Mike eats his food voraciously, drinks club soda until he is ready for his one alcoholic beverage, and stalks and kills women with his black stunt car, a death proof automobile with a skull emblazoned on the hood. Women such as DJ legend Jungle Julia (Sydney Poitier, daughter of the legendary actor) frequent the bar, not knowing the danger headed their way.
In the second half of the film, after a truly horrific car crash, Stuntman Mike is on the move, pursuing different women. One is a celebrity hairdresser (Rosario Dawson); two stuntwomen (Zoe Bell, playing herself, and Tracie Thoms, from TV's "Cold Case") who speak adoringly of the cult classic "Vanishing Point," and an actress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who loves John Hughes movies. Their conversations range from womanizing, cheating boyfriends, to falling in ditches to drive-in movies. Yep, this is a Tarantino flick with the customary self-reflexive attitudes and pop culture chatter. And then comes roaring in that death proof car, resulting in some hair-raising car chases that will give you goosebumps.
"Death Proof" is sheer pornographic exploitation, at least on a visual level, except that it is also a riff of sorts on those famous drive-in and grindhouse movies of yesteryear. Uncannily, Tarantino has gone all Zelig on us, showing what a movie like this would've looked like in a grindhouse theatre. There are those nasty glitches, dust prints, missing reels, and unintended jump cuts (I remember seeing piss poor prints of "A Clockwork Orange" and "Enter the Dragon" back in the day that appeared to have been run through one too many projectors). The film starts off looking like a 1970's exploitation picture with some slightly grainy colors and with its opening titles - you literally feel like you are going back in time. Then the second half of the film swings into gear and looks more like a polished Tarantino film. We see a black-and- white sequence at a convenience store that segues into brighter, more refined colors, and less abrupt grindhouse gimmickry. Once again, Tarantino toys with us and plays with our expectations.
Kurt Russell plays his role to the hilt, with all the macho swagger one would find in a sociopath who loves his car a little too much. Stuntman Mike's idea of charming the ladies is by pretending to sneeze. He also tries to charm them by making mention of TV shows he has performed stunts in like "The Virginian" - the girls have no idea what he is talking about. And Russell delivers a killer line of dialogue when asked about his scary-looking car: " It is my mom's car." Obviously Tarantino has modeled Russell's stuntman on Snake Plissken from "Escape From New York" as the ultimate badass with a badass scar to boot.
All the actors deliver their lines with gusto, as one would expect in a Tarantino film. Rose McGowan, who has been in her share of ultraviolent flicks, shows poise and a cuteness we rarely see in her work. Rosario Dawson is as always pure dynamite on screen, including the physical presence of Zoe Bell (who gets to perform a few nasty stunts) and the perky shenanigans of Tracie Thoms. Sydney Poitier exudes a breathless sexiness that comes close to Pam Grier's own sex appeal, and former "CSI: NY" actress Vanessa Ferlito performs one of the few striking lap dances I have seen in the movies since Rebecca Romjin's in "Femme Fatale." With respect to Ferlito's other talents, she is wickedly funny as well. The women in this movie seem alive and full of spontaneity - Tarantino certainly knows how to direct them.
References to other Tarantino films come a mile a minute. There is a reference to Big Kahuna Burger, the return of Texas Ranger Earl McGraw (Michael Parks) who offers his forensic wisdom on the stuntman, the famous Bernard Herrman instrumental "Twisted Nerve" (also used in "Kill Bill") that is used as a cell phone ring tone, the selection of songs from "Pulp Fiction" that appear briefly on a jukebox, and so on.
"Death Proof" is a wickedly entertaining, full throttle mishmash of everything you love and hate about the low-budget exploitation pics of the 70's. Though it could be seen as a slasher movie, it doesn't neatly fit into that category (there are very few deaths for a movie of this type). It is a purely adrenalized pop entertainment for Tarantino and it is not meant to be as character-based as "Jackie Brown" or even his "Kill Bill" volumes. It is more of a car chase movie where pop culture and relationships are discussed, large cup sizes of sodas are consumed, women's feet are repeatedly shown in extreme close-up, followed by a couple of car chases, a lap dance set to the music of the Coasters, with additional music by T. Rex thrown in for good measure. That's my kind of movie.
