After almost three decades, Quentin Tarantino’s directorial debut Reservoir Dogs still holds up. Its budget was about 100 times smaller than that of Django Unchained or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, but Tarantino’s influences from such filmmakers as Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Melville made sure that it still turned out wonderfully cinematic.
Mostly set in one room, the movie works a lot like a stage play, which put a lot of pressure on the actors to carry each scene. Fortunately, Tarantino put together the perfect cast of actors (barring the inclusion of himself in a major supporting role) to bring the characters to life. So, here are all the major performances in Reservoir Dogs, ranked.
11 Quentin Tarantino As Mr. Brown
Quentin Tarantino’s original dream in life was to become an actor, so whenever he makes a movie, he gives himself a role.
It’s a relief that, over the years, this has been reduced from large, monologue-filled roles in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction to simple cameo appearances, because he’s a much better writer and director than he is an actor.
10 Edward Bunker As Mr. Blue
Tarantino made the interesting decision to cast a real former career criminal, Edward Bunker, in the role of Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs. He ended up adding the opening diner scene just because he realized that Bunker wouldn’t have any dialogue otherwise.
Bunker might have been a talented criminal, but he’s not a gifted actor. His line delivery feels very forced and on-the-nose. Still, he’s less distracting than Tarantino himself.
9 Steven Wright As K-Billy DJ
Standup comic Steven Wright can be heard presenting “K-Billy’s Super Sounds of the Seventies” whenever a character is listening to the radio. Sometimes, his voice comes on the soundtrack to introduce a non-diegetic song like the George Baker Selection’s “Little Green Bag.”
Wright brings his usual deadpan delivery style to his dialogue as a radio DJ, and it fits the role perfectly.
8 Kirk Baltz As Marvin Nash
Kirk Baltz plays Marvin Nash, the cop that Mr. Blonde kidnaps and subsequently ties up and tortures back at the rendezvous. Even with tape on his mouth, Baltz plays the terror in Marvin’s eyes beautifully.
As he begs for his life and tells an uncaring Mr. Blonde that he’s a father, we really believe it. Baltz doesn’t play Marvin as a brave-faced cop who refuses to show his fear to a crook; he plays him as a real human being whose life is in danger.
7 Randy Brooks As Holdaway
Although Holdaway is a detective, he’s characterized more like an acting teacher, and Randy Brooks leans into that. He prepares Freddy Newandyke for his undercover assignment by telling him that undercover cops need to be the greatest, most convincing actors of all time.
Brooks’ scenes are disconnected from the main storyline, but his performance is strong enough that he still sticks in viewers’ minds after the end credits roll.
6 Tim Roth As Mr. Orange
Tim Roth was faced with many challenges in the role of Mr. Orange, as he really had to play three characters: Freddy the detective, Mr. Orange the undercover persona, and a terrified combination of the two as he spent the present-set scenes bleeding out from an ultimately fatal gunshot wound.
The only downside to his performance is that his American accent is a little shaky, and he slips back into his British accent during some lines. But that’s a small complaint, because the emotions come through in a very real way.
5 Lawrence Tierney As Joe Cabot
Joe Cabot is the stern crime boss who doesn’t take any smack from anyone, complains at every turn, and rarely changes his grumpy expression.
Lawrence Tierney is one of the most iconic “tough guy” actors in Hollywood history, so it’s no surprise that he knocked this role out of the park. He butted heads with Tarantino during filming – almost getting himself fired at one point – but that ended up working in the character’s favor.
4 Chris Penn As “Nice Guy” Eddie Cabot
“Nice Guy” Eddie does a lot of screwing around. When Vic Vega first comes into his dad’s office, he barbs him until they end up wrestling on the floor. And Chris Penn does a fantastic job of this comic delivery, smirking infectiously through every line.
But when the robbery goes awry, he also plays the serious dramatic scenes brilliantly. His explanation of why he doesn’t believe what Mr. Orange says about Mr. Blonde is heartfelt and passionate.
3 Steve Buscemi As Mr. Pink
There’s a behind-the-scenes legend from Reservoir Dogs that Quentin Tarantino originally wrote the role of Mr. Pink for himself. When Steve Buscemi wanted to play the part, Tarantino told him he’d have to do an audition that was strong enough to convince him not to play the character himself.
After one audition, the director was happy to relinquish the role. Based on the riveting, star-making turn that Buscemi gives in the finished film, it’s easy to believe that this story is true.
2 Michael Madsen As Mr. Blonde
Quentin Tarantino and Michael Madsen drummed up a working relationship that has continued to this day when they collaborated on Reservoir Dogs and Madsen played the hard-as-nails psychopath Mr. Blonde.
Madsen’s line delivery is as cool as ice, which contrasts hauntingly with Mr. Blonde’s psychotic actions. His dancing during the “Stuck in the Middle with You” torture scene adds to the unsettling juxtaposition created by the Stealers Wheel hit.
1 Harvey Keitel As Mr. White
Reservoir Dogs couldn’t have gotten made without Harvey Keitel’s involvement. He got a hold of the script, attached himself to the project, and all of a sudden, Quentin Tarantino and his producer Lawrence Bender were able to get the movie financed. Keitel was really passionate about bringing this film to the screen, and it shows in his captivating performance.
Mr. White is an archetypal genre character, as with a lot of Tarantino’s characters, and Keitel plays him with real nuance and humanity, as with all the best performances in Tarantino’s genre movies. There’s a reason why the final shot is a closeup of Keitel, with all the action happening out of the frame – the movie’s ending is anchored by the pain in Keitel’s eyes.
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