Death Proof [2007]

Crime, Action

Kurt Russell	Stuntman Mike
Rosario Dawson	Abernathy
Vanessa Ferlito	Arlene
Jordan Ladd	Shanna
Rose McGowan	Pam
Zoe Bell	Herself
Sydney Tamiia Poitier	Jungle Julia
Tracie Thoms	Kim
Mary Elizabeth Winstead	Lee
Quentin Tarantino	Warren
Michael Parks	Texas Ranger Earl McGraw

Director	Quentin Tarantino
Producer	Elizabeth Avellan; Shannon McIntosh; Robert Rodriguez
Writer	Quentin Tarantino
Cinematography	Quentin Tarantino

Loud, fast, and proudly out of control, Grindhouse is a tribute to the low-budget exploitation movies that lurked at drive-ins and inner city theaters in the '60s and early '70s. Writers/directors Quentin Tarantino (Kill Bill) and Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) cooked up this three-hour double feature as a way to pay homage to these films, and the end result manages to evoke the down-and-dirty vibe of the original films for an audience that may be too young to remember them. Tarantino's Death Proof is the mellower of the two, relatively speaking; it's wordier (as to be expected) and rife with pulp/comic book posturing and eminently quotable dialogue. It also features a terrific lead performance by Kurt Russell as a homicidal stunt man whose weapon of choice is a souped-up car. Tarantino's affection for his own dialogue slows down the action at times, but he does provide showy roles for a host of likable actresses, including Rosario Dawson, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rose McGowan, Sydney Poitier, and newcomer Zoe Bell, who was Uma Thurman's stunt double in Kill Bill. Detractors may decry the rampant violence and latch onto a sexist undertone in Tarantino's feature, but for those viewers who grew up watching these types of films in either theaters or on VHS, such elements will be probably be more of a virtue than a detrimental factor. --Paul Gaita