Mercifully Short Review by Jonathan Empson

It’s two years before the American Civil War, and a liberal and articulate bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) frees slave Django (Jamie Foxx) to help him identify three sadistic brothers who were once Django’s overseers. Django gets a taste for the work and they partner up, but Django’s ultimate goal is to locate and free his wife, from whom he was separated when they tried to run away together.

This is a Tarantino film, so no-one gets shot… if there’s an option for them to explode in a spray of gore instead. Think of it as a homage to spaghetti westerns, but with extra sauce. It’s violent and funny, though the most painful comedy moment is Quentin trying to do an Australian (or possibly South African) accent in a cameo role. His usual whimsies push running time to 165 mins, but it rarely drags.

8/10

Jonathan Empson’s TV script Chromewas nominated for an AWGIE in 2010.

His recently completed historical drama-comedy feature Leonardo’s War is in circulation, and his black comedy-thriller Get Out of Here has been optioned.

He is represented by Rick Raftos Management.