The Hateful Eight - C+

Samuel L. Jackson

Rated R, 182 minutes

The entertaining new Western from Oscar-winner Quentin Tarantino, "The Hateful Eight" is too long and too talky and doesn't really pick up steam until its last act, but when it does, it packs a good punch as only Tarantino can do. With his second Western in a row, "The Hateful Eight," most of which takes place in a large cabin in a blizzard, is not as fun or entertaining as his previous effort, "Django Unchained," playing to both his strength of writing good dialogue and his flaw of being way too self-aware. In post-Civil War Wyoming, John "The Hangman" Ruth (Kurt Russell) is escorting fugitive Daisy "The Prisoner" Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to Red Rock where the latter will face justice for murder. They encounter another bounty hunter named Major Marquis "The Bounty Hunter" Warren (Samuel Jackson) and Chris "The Sheriff" Mannix (Walton Goggins). A blizzard forces the four to take shelter at a stagecoach passover called Minnie's Haberdashery where they encounter four more strangers; Bob "The Mexican" (Demian Bichir), Oswaldo "The Little Man" Mobray (Tim Roth), Joe "The Cow Puncher" Gage (Michael Madsen), and ex-General Sanford "The Confederate" Smithers (Bruce Dern). Through betrayal and deception, the eight strangers soon learn that they may not make it to Red Rock after all. With a roadshow version that includes an unnecessary old-school overture and 15-minute intermission along with needless 70 mm, you'll be sitting awhile watching Tarantino's engaging, bloody and utterly profane "The Hateful Eight," though he's done better before. Things don't get truly moving until post-intermission, so you'll be forced to sit through most of it before seeing any delightfully bloody scenes that has become Tarantino's specialty: one major actor gets his head literally blown off while others meet untimely ends too. Speaking of which, QT has assembled a a terrific, expansive cast, most memorable of which is a gruff Russell, a Lincoln-letter carrying Jackson and a wide-eyed Goggins (if you've watched TV's "Justified" or "The Shield" you know him), not to mention a gleefully unhinged Leigh, who steals enough scenes to likely get her first Oscar nomination. "The Hateful Eight" could've been trimmed - a lot, especially in its first half - not to mention narratively it has some plot holes and Tarantino is sure loves his dialogue, but that last hour will please his fan base. I wish QT would learn that sometimes less is more, and on that note, your rear-end will be the happiest when it comes to its 182-minute close.