Quentin Tarantino’s Best Screen Performance Is in From Dusk Till Dawn

Collider argues Quentin Tarantino’s strongest screen performance comes not from his own films but from his role as Richie Gecko in Robert Rodriguez’s From Dusk Till Dawn.

The piece notes Tarantino frequently cast himself with mixed results—being funny in Reservoir Dogs but aging poorly in Pulp Fiction—and that Rodriguez gave him a substantial, intentionally annoying part opposite George Clooney’s Seth. Playing a psychopathic loose cannon, Richie raises suspense in the film’s first half, helps deepen Clooney’s role, and is killed off when the movie shifts into supernatural gothic horror under Rodriguez’s direction.

The article also recalls that Tarantino has previously let other filmmakers adapt his scripts—Tony Scott made True Romance and Oliver Stone made Natural Born Killers—and notes recent news that David Fincher would direct Tarantino’s script for The Adventures of Cliff Booth. While it remains to be seen when or what Tarantino’s next and final film as a director might be, the writer suggests he could deliver more strong performances when someone else is behind the camera; From Dusk Till Dawn is available to watch on Paramount+ in the U.S.

Key Topics

Culture, Quentin Tarantino, Dusk Till Dawn, Robert Rodriguez, Richie Gecko, George Clooney