Written by Jake Hardin
Death Proof (2007) is one of Quentin Tarantino’s lesser known films, but it is one of his most creative and entertaining. The movie clocks in with a 7/10 score on IMDB and follows the avant-garde lifestyle of Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell) as he tracks down women to kill. The movie stars Russell, Zoë Bell, Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan, Sydney Poitier and several more femme fatales. What sets Tarantino’s fifth movie apart from his others is that it is essentially a slasher flick but instead of a machete or an ax, Stuntman Mike uses … his car.
The movie begins with Jungle Julia (Poitier), a local radio host, hanging out with her friends for the evening before they embark on a girls’ trip at a cabin near the lake. After visiting a Mexican restaurant called “Guero’s,” the girls head to a dive bar where they encounter Stuntman Mike. Our savagery-inclined leading man wins for himself a fully-clothed, Covenant Eyes approved lap dance from one of Jungle Julia’s friends, Butterfly. After the dance, the intoxicated girls leave the bar and a fully sober Stuntman Mike gives a ride to another barfly named Pam (McGowan) in his stunt car. Things go south very quickly for Pam as soon as her Icy Hot-jacket-wearing chauffeur asks her which way she is going.
Stuntman Mike: Which way you going, Pam … left or right?
Pam: Right
Stuntman Mike: Aw … that’s too bad.
Pam: What?
Stuntman Mike: Well, because it was a 50/50 shot which way you’d be going … left or right. You see … we’re both going left. You could’ve just as easily been going left and if that was the case it would have been awhile … before you started getting scared.
Stuntman Mike decides to turn his car into a morgue for poor Pamela as he takes crazy turns on the highway at top speed … because after all, his car is death proof … but you gotta be sitting in his seat to enjoy that benefit. After this, Stuntman Mike tracks down Jungle Julia and the gang and creates a head-on collision with Stuntman Mike being the only survivor. The police investigate, but Stuntman Mike beats the charges due to the girls having booze and weed in their systems.
The movie flashes forward 18 months and Stuntman Mike has fully recovered from all his injuries from the radio DJ-themed car wreck. He starts stalking a new set of girls, but this time there is a catch. These girls are stuntwomen. Zoë Bell (playing herself), Abernathy, Lee, and Kim meet up in Tennessee for some millennial-coded passe-temps. After catching up on gossip, the girls head to a ranch to purchase a 1971 Dodge Challenger from a farmer. The girls sacrifice a cheerleader-dressed Lee to the unscrupulous farmer and take the car for a test spin. Zoë and Kim trick Abernathy into playing a game called “Ship’s Mast” with them. Much like the name sounds, Ship’s Mast is where a human being gets on the hood of a car and acts as a sort of “sail.” Zoë gets two belts and ties each end to the inside of the window frame on each side of the car and then Kim drives full speed while Zoë holds on for dear life. Abernathy struggles to keep her silence while this daring game of life and death plays out. Enter Stuntman Mike.
Our stuntman sees the girls out on the high seas and SETS SAIL. Stuntman Mike rams into the back of their car and nearly knocks Zoë off the hood leaving her hanging onto the speeding car without the belts. To her credit, Zoë Bell actually did this scene herself for real. There was no stunt double or CGI used in the scene, making the viewing experience hyper-galvanic. Anyhow, Stuntman Mike rams into the girls’ car until he has to dodge a truck carrying a load of hay. When he finally catches back up with the girls, Kim brandishes a pistol and pops a hole in his bicep. All of a sudden, the prey become the predators and the girls chase after Stuntman Mike in a visceral, electric car chase scene of the century. Finally, our cackling band of she-wolves catch him, pull him out of the car and then beat him to death. To get the benefit of the death proof car … you have to be sitting in the driver’s seat.
One of the things that makes this movie so good is the dialogue. One of the things that makes this movie so unique is plot structure. The movie is basically split into two, where in the first half of the movie we are introduced to one set of girls only to have them killed and replaced by another set. Not many writers have the gravitas to pull off something like that, but Tarantino shows why he is the best and gets it done. And it is through the dialogue that this is accomplished. For nearly the first 45 minutes of the film, there is nothing but talking. We get to know Jungle Julia and her girls only to have them snatched away from us in a split second of twisted metal, severed limbs, and practical effects magic. Whether it’s Stuntman Mike’s conversation with Pam at the bartop, or his enthralling recitation of a poem to Butterfly, the spoken words glow like a light bulb:
“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep, and I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep. Did you hear me, Butterfly, miles to go before you sleep.”
This sort of “hanging out with the characters” energy is what really does it for the audience and carries us forward to the car crash scene.
You might be wondering how gratuitous violence fits into a Catholic worldview. The truth is, it doesn’t. But that’s the point. Death Proof is a rough movie and bad things happen to bad people in it. We are allowed to tell stories about evil, and I think that’s what Tarantino does here. Not to mention the fact that watching pretend violence doesn’t do the same thing to the viewer that watching a sex scene does. Sex scenes appeal to the prurient interest, while violence does not. If we can depict violence in movies, then we can depict it in graphic fashion. The degree is unconcerning. Splash some blood juxtaposed to a sexy soundtrack and you have for yourself a Memento Mori flavored work of art.
One thing I thought that could’ve been done better with this movie is the casting. With the second set of girls, I don’t really buy that a lustful serial killer would be that interested in them. Rosario Dawson’s hair is fashioned in the style of a fat German boy from the early 20th century. It looks like what a child would do to a doll and that’s an insult to the 6 year-old hairdressing community. Kim is not very hot and Zoë Bell … well we won’t say anything mean about Zoë Bell. I’m sorry, but it just takes me out of the movie. The second set of girls simply are not attractive enough to catch the eye of the hungry lion … nor the scarred eye of Stuntman Mike. Rawr. Other than that, the only thing I don’t like about the movie is the itty, bitty, teeny, weeny part of me that after having been introduced to both sets of backbiting broads … kind of starts rooting for Stuntman Mike. But that’s neither here nor there! And just like that … this review of Death Proof is over.
Author Bio: Jake Hardin is a psychology graduate of Oklahoma State University who has worked in Catholic media as a video editor, op-ed writer, and social media manager. He has also served as a political consultant for an independent candidate. He is 5'10, 165 lbs and is addicted to zyn.
