The Hateful Eight (2015)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh

In the dead of a Wyoming winter, a bounty hunter and his prisoner find shelter in a cabin currently inhabited by a collection of nefarious characters.

‘The Hateful Eight’ is for Quentin Tarantino fans only, or for those with an acquired taste for this. Hateful is a very apt description of my feelings towards this drivel.

Some movies are meant to be 3 hours long. Some are this long simply for the sake of making a long movie. ‘The Hateful Eight’ is such a movie. I might have enjoyed the movie more if about an hour or so were left on the cutting room floor instead of the film. Oh, wait no; I still wouldn’t have enjoyed it… This was oh-so-dreary and a pain to watch.

The first 45 minutes are dedicated to a ride on a stagecoach on its way to Red Rock. Yup, I kid you not! Hangman John Ruth (Kurt Russell) encounters bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) along the road, who hitches a ride with him. With John is his prisoner, Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh). A bit further down the road they encounter Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), Red Rock’s new sheriff, and he too hitches a ride.

With a blizzard approaching, they seek refuge at a cabin, where more characters are introduced – and for the next two hours we sit watching men chattering in this cabin. Yawn already!! Yawn, yawn, yawn. Being a Quentin Tarantino film, there’s more racist remarks here than there are donuts at a police precinct! Nigger this, nigger, that, nigger, nigger, nigger… And Samuel L. Jackson once again portrays a character throwing around racist remarks to make your ears twitch. White man this, white man that, white man blah-blah-blah…

This dreary talkie film bored me to death from beginning to end – a full 2 hours and 47 minutes!!! Much of the film felt like a stage play – a very unpleasant stage play. How is it possible for a film to have received such polarized reviews? Some view this as the worst movie ever made, while others view it as a masterpiece. Some rate it 1/10 while others rate it 10/10. How?? Why?? This movie was just awful! I hated this movie! Absolutely hated everything about it! Ugh!!!

‘The Hateful Eight’ received 161 award nominations, winning 45 including an Oscar for Best Original Score. At the box office the film earned $156.5 million on a budget of around $44-62 million. What am I missing here??

Would I watch it again? Please, NO!!