This short is like an audition tape of Quentin Tarantino for feature-length 'Reservoir Dogs' movie, but not to show his acting talent, but rather to showcase his writing chops. And, oh boy, what beautiful writing that is - edgy, witty and intelligent. This little gem was made with the help of the Sundance Film Institute to secure more funding for the feature-length movie.
Steve Buscemi is Mr. Pink (the role he reprised in the real movie), Tarantino is Mr. White (later portrayed by Harvey Keitel), and Joe Cabot is played by David Jensen (to whom this was the only collaboration with Tarantino). The writing is masterful, and proof to that besides fast dialogue is that the story is perfectly clear and characters are nicely drawn out. Steve Buscemi is brilliant, of course. Quentin Tarantino's own acting is atrocious but at the same time sincere and entertaining. But this is not important - he never wanted to show off his acting skills in this anyway. The direction is low key, but still interesting enough.
Don't expect too much from this. It is what it is - just a demo reel, a rehearsal of a couple of the scenes, yet it is a magnificently interesting piece of filmmaking that plays a much important part in the shaping of American independent cinema than it gets the credit for (this could be an overstatement by myself but nonetheless, check this short film out if you are a fan of Tarantino, 'Reservoir Dogs' or simply like indie movies).
