THE HATEFUL EIGHT | FAMILY MOVIE REVIEW INFORMATION FOR PARENTS AND KIDS

"THE HATEFUL EIGHT"
(2015) (Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell) (R)

NOTE:: The following is based on the longer, 70mm, 187-minute version of the film (which is what was shown to us for review purposes and includes a several minute overture at the start and a 12 minute intermission). A 167-minute version is also being released (without the overture or intermission), but the studio did not list what else was cut from the film.

QUICK TAKE:: Western: A number of people with nebulous and conflicting motives end up holed up in a remote, mid 19th century Old West haberdashery during a blizzard.

PLOT:

It's post Civil War Wyoming and bounty hunter John "The Hangman" Ruth (KURT RUSSELL) is traveling through the snowy environs in a stagecoach driven by O.B. Jackson (JAMES PARKS). Inside with John is wanted murderer Daisy Domergue (JENNIFER JASON LEIGH), and he's not only determined to watch her hang in Red Rock, but also to collect the $10,000 bounty on her head. Thus, when they come across former Union cavalryman Major Marquis Warren (SAMUEL L. JACKSON) standing in the middle of the road with no horse and a pile of bodies, John is understandably suspicious. After all, he knows the major is also a bounty hunter, but Marquis states his several body haul is also worth thousands and isn't interested in Daisy.

John reluctantly allows the major onboard, but as they head through the fast approaching blizzard, they're both suspicious of a third man, Chris Mannix (WALTON GOGGINS), who they likewise encounter standing in the middle of the snow-covered road. He claims to be the soon to be sworn in sheriff of Red Rock whose horse suffered a broken leg, and while John and Marquis don't really believe any of that, and the major doesn't like the fact that the man's Confederate family was known for killing black people and this guy's an obvious racist, the fact that he could be telling the truth about his new position means they let him onboard, albeit at gunpoint.

They're headed for Minnie's Haberdashery, a remote outpost run by Minnie Mink (DANE GOURRIER) and Sweet Dave (GENE JONES), with the help of Six-Horse Judy (ZOE BELL) and a few others. Unbeknownst to those in the carriage, their arrival has been preceded by a quartet of men -- Bob (DEMIAN BICHIR), Oswaldo Mobray (TIM ROTH), Joe Gage (MICHAEL MADSEN) and Jody (CHANNING TATUM) -- who've stopped there and found an old Confederate officer, General Sanford "Sandy" Smithers (BRUCE DERN), already there. When John and others then arrive, tensions rise as he and Marquis become increasingly suspicious that one or more people there might be intent on harming them and freeing Daisy.

WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT?: Older teens might, especially if they're fans of films by Quentin Tarantino.

WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R: For strong bloody violence, a scene of violent sexual content, language and some graphic nudity.

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