Django Unchained (2012)

Of all the scenes in Django Unchained’s 165 minutes, the first one I’d cut stars Quentin Tarantino himself, Australian accent and all. The rest mostly earns its length. Christoph Waltz plays Dr. King Schultz as the most polite bounty hunter in the West, a man who talks his way into every room and treats the dentist wagon like a business card. Jamie Foxx gives Django a quiet, steady burn, and his search for Broomhilda gives the movie a real spine. Leonardo DiCaprio is chilling as Candie, but Samuel L. Jackson’s Stephen is the one that stays with you, because he’s the sharpest person at the table. Where it stumbles: the shootouts get so cartoonish that they clash with how seriously the film treats the cruelty of slavery, and that shift in tone never quite settles. An 8.5 because the performances and the dialogue are on another level. $11 says you hold your breath through the entire dinner scene at Candyland.

What works: Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson give huge performances, and Tarantino’s dialogue crackles in every scene.

What doesn’t: The cartoonish shootouts clash with the film’s serious look at slavery, and the last stretch, including the director’s own cameo, runs long.

Who it’s for: Adult viewers who like Westerns and Tarantino’s style and can handle intense, heavy material.