Movie Review: Django Unchained (2012)

"Django Unchained" is a western directed by Quentin Tarantino and starring Jamie Foxx in the title role.  Django is a slave just sold at auction when the convoy is stopped by Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz), a German dentist and bounty hunter, who offers to purchase Django once he affirms he can identify a trio of men Schultz is attempting to find.  Violence erupts and the result is Django is freed and becomes Schultz's apprentice.  The two work together as partners and then work to find Django's wife, Broomhilda (Kerry Washington) who is a slave sold to Calvin Candie (Leo DiCaprio).  Candie is a cruel owner of a large Mississippi plantation called Candyland.  Django and Schultz attempt a ruse in order to gain access to Broomhilda and persuade Candie to sell her.

First of all this film is definitely a Tarantino-directed film in that there's violence aplenty (some of it directed towards slaves and some of it more of the shoot-em up variety).  There's also plenty of language and this film is controversial for the very heavy use of a certain "N-word."  The film is depicting a time period when this word was used much more and in particular by people referring to slaves, however the language is somewhat  pervasive so please be aware.  All that said, this film delivers on telling a different kind of story set in the slavery-era where a freed slave and a German bounty hunter can team up and have this quest to find a princess held captive in a castle so to speak.  It's definitely entertaining and very different especially from other films on this time period.  I thought the acting was great especially Waltz, who is certainly talented.  Look out for a good performance as well by Samuel L. Jackson, who is amazing as Stephen, the head house servant at Candyland.  I also liked Foxx in the lead here too and DiCaprio is a charming and cruel plantation owner.  Something to listen for rather than watch for is the soundtrack, which I thought was unique and really complemented the film.  It's a long film at 2 hours and 45 minutes of run time but the film moves well and doesn't seem over-done.  Consider this time well-spent.

This film is not for everyone given the violence and language.  If you can get past that then you're in for something pleasantly different - A-