Film: “Inglourious Basterds”; Director: Quentin Tarantino; Cast: Brad Pitt, Mlanie Laurent, Christoph Waltz, Daniel Brhl, Diane Kruger, Jacky Ido; Rating: **1/2

Everything that comes out of Hollywood need not be always perfect. Even if the filmmaker at the helm of affairs is none other than Quentin Tarantino, an institution in himself, one can’t get extraordinary results in each of his outings. However, from Tarantino one did expect a lot more out of this 150 minutes long drama.

‘Inglourious Basterds’ doesn’t quite turn out to be the kind of violent action entertainer that one would have expected. In chapter after chapter (as is the trademark Tarantino’s story telling style), there is an overdose of dialogues, which makes it a little too tedious an affair. Yes, there are blazing guns and dead bodies falling too - but all of that is only intermittently.

What one gets to see all the time is conversations and more conversations. One still sticks on as the plot is exciting and one does look forward to how it would end. Reason being that ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is a fictional tale where the target is none other than Hitler himself. There are multiple groups who want him dead.

A team called ‘Inglourious Basterds’, which is led by a First Lieutenant (Brad Pitt) is forming its own plan along with Diane Kruger, a film actress. On the other hand a civilian (Mlanie Laurent), who owns a theatre in France, also plans to kill 350 odd Nazis in collaboration with her boyfriend (Jacky Ido).

While these multiple stories running in isolation unfold through various chapters, audiences are kept privy to all the plans. And while the various characters are unaware about what’s brewing elsewhere, as audiences you root for them to reach their common goal.

All chapters are important though and very integral to the film. A German war hero (Daniel Brhl) wooing an uninterested Mlanie, Brad Pitt’s soldiers killing Nazis, a detective (played by Christoph Waltz) finding Jews and nailing them down, Mlanie making her own silent plans, Diane conspiring with the Basterds to go for the kill in Mlanie’s theatre - they all are integrated quite well for the film to reach an explosive end. Now if only this end would have come quicker, the film would have been a more engaging watch.

From the performance standpoint, the film is Christoph Waltz’s show all the way. As the antagonist of the film, he creates terror even as he wears that constant smile on his face. On the other hand, Brad Pitt comes on the scene intermittently. Mlanie is avaerage though Diane looks every bit the actress part that she is required to play.

The film is set in the 1940s in the times of the World War II. This is not a war film though if one is expecting battlefields, gun shots, air strikes or maimed bodies. Instead, just as is the tradition with Tarantino films, “Inglourious Basterds” has a touch of humour lacing the most dramatic of sequences.

One is used to seeing blood all over in Tarantino’s films, something most visible in the “Kill Bill” series. However, “Inglourious Basterds” is more in the genre of “Pulp Fiction” or the lesser known “Jackie Brown” where drama took centre stage.