Reservoir Dogs is a 1992 American neo-noir crime film that depicts the events before and after a botched diamond heist.
The film is the directorial debut of Quentin Tarantino. The film has many of Tarantino's trademarks including, violence, pop culture references, and nonlinear storytelling.
Plot[]
Eight men eat breakfast at a Los Angeles diner before their planned diamond heist, most of them unknown to each other. Six of them use aliases: Mr. Blonde, Mr. Blue, Mr. Brown, Mr. Orange, Mr. Pink, and Mr. White. With them are mob boss Joe Cabot, the organizer of the heist, and his son/underboss, "Nice Guy" Eddie Cabot. The initial scene contains no clues as to their actual identities or intended group purpose; the dialogue is entirely conversational and seemingly irrelevant to any exposition. During the course of the film, the major characters are sporadically introduced by subtitles (e.g., "Mr. White") and their character backstories are explored in subsequent, non-linear fashion. They leave the diner and the scene shifts to the opening titles.
The following scene is of a speeding car, in which Mr. White comforts Mr. Orange, who has been shot in the abdomen and is bleeding profusely, revealing they just performed the heist. They soon reach an abandoned warehouse. Mr. Pink eventually arrives and angrily suggests that the job was a setup based on the rapid police response. Mr. White tells Mr. Pink that Mr. Brown was killed while escaping and Mr. Blue is presumed dead. They then talk about Mr. Blonde, who murdered several civilians after the alarm was triggered. Mr. White is angered that Joe, an old friend of his, employed such a "psychopath" and agrees about a possible setup while Mr. Pink reveals that he escaped with the diamonds and hid them in a secure location. They argue over whether to take the now unconscious Mr. Orange to a hospital. Mr. White also reveals that he has told Mr. Orange his name and hometown, which was breaking the rules.
Mr. Blonde, having watched them from a distance, steps forward and ends the dispute regarding Mr. Orange. Mr. White berates him for his deadly rampage, but Mr. Blonde dismisses the criticism. He tells the others to wait because Eddie is on his way there. Mr. Blonde has also taken a police officer, Marvin Nash, hostage and the three men beat Nash in an attempt to find out if there is an informant. Eddie then arrives and orders Mr. Pink and Mr. White to assist him in retrieving the stolen diamonds and dispose of the hijacked vehicles, while Mr. Blonde stays with Nash and the unconscious Mr. Orange.
Alone with Mr. Blonde, Nash denies any knowledge of a setup, but Mr. Blonde is uninterested and tortures Nash for his own amusement, slashing Nash's face with a straight razor and severing his right ear. He then douses Nash with gasoline, but before he can ignite it, Mr. Orange springs to life and shoots and kills Mr. Blonde. Mr. Orange then reveals to Nash that he is an undercover cop, reassuring Nash that, upon Joe's arrival, a large police force is in position to raid the warehouse.
Eddie, Mr. Pink, and Mr. White return to the warehouse to find Mr. Blonde dead. Mr. Orange claims that Mr. Blonde was going to kill all of them and take the diamonds for himself. After impulsively pulling out his gun and killing Nash, Eddie rejects Mr. Orange's claims, saying that Mr. Blonde was a close personal friend who had always remained loyal to his father. Joe then arrives and reveals that Mr. Blue is dead along with Mr. Brown. He confidently accuses Mr. Orange of being an informant, forcing Mr. White to defend his friend.
Joe, about to execute Mr. Orange, is stopped when Mr. White points his gun at him, and Eddie then takes aim on Mr. White, creating a Mexican standoff. Joe eventually shoots Mr. Orange, wounding him again; Mr. White shoots and kills Joe in response; Eddie shoots Mr. White, wounding him, who turns and shoots Eddie, killing him, as he falls.
Mr. Pink, who was hiding during the melee, takes the diamonds and flees. Shouts are heard outside and someone commands another to get out of a car, suggesting that Mr. Pink is being arrested by the police officers outside. Badly wounded, Mr. White crawls to Mr. Orange and cradles him in his arms. However, Mr. Orange reveals to Mr. White that he is in fact an undercover cop. Devastated, Mr. White points his gun at Mr. Orange's head. The police storm the warehouse, demanding that Mr. White drop his gun. A single shot is heard, and Mr. White is gunned down by the police as the film ends.
Cast[]
- Harvey Keitel as Mr. White/ Lawrence Dimmick
- Tim Roth as Mr. Orange/ Det. Freddie Newandyke
- Steve Buscemi as Mr. Pink
- Lawrence Tierney as Joe Cabot
- Michael Madsen as Mr. Blonde/ Vic Vega
- Chris Penn as "Nice Guy" Eddie Cabot
- Quentin Tarantino as Mr. Brown
- Edward Bunker as Mr. Blue
- Kirk Baltz as Marvin Nash
- Randy Brooks as Holdaway