Django Unchained

Django Unchained (2012) starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Don Johnson. Directed by Quentin Tarantino. In 1858, two years before the Civil War, a slave named Django (Foxx) is bought and later freed by a bounty hunter named Schultz (Waltz). Django learns how to handle a six-shooter, and they go into business together as bounty hunters. But Django's one overriding concern is to get his wife, Broomhilda (Washington), out of the hands of an evil slaver named Calvin Candie (DiCaprio). Schultz and Django concoct an elaborate scheme to buy Broomhilda from Candie, but in the end they have to resort to violence to free her. The violence in this film is trademark Tarantino -- when somebody gets shot, blood spurts or sprays out of him. And a lot of people get shot, mostly by Django. It's an extremely violent movie, but Django and Broomhilda have been badly mistreated and the shooting seems justified. Basically, it's a revenge flick and can be enjoyed on that level. (Subtitles are available for the hard of hearing, but not closed captions. There are several songs in the movie that could have profited by being subtitled, but they are not.) Grade: B+