8 Problems With Reservoir Dogs Nobody Wants To Admit

1. The Final Shootout Makes No Sense (And Is Kind Of A Cop-Out)

Everybody knows the story regarding the final shootout in Reservoir Dogs, which sees Nice Guy Eddie (Chris Penn), Big Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) and Mr. White (Harvey Keitel) facing off against one another in a Mexican stand-off. Mr. White points his gun at Joe; Joe points his gun at Mr. White; Nice Guy Eddie also points his Mr. White. When the scene reaches breaking point, everybody's guns go off, but - somehow - all three characters winds up getting shot. And that's including Nice Guy Eddie, by the way, who nobody actually had their gun pointed at. Most people don't notice this on their first or even second viewings, because they're too caught up in the movie, but it's odd. Now, according to Tarantino, Chris Penn's squib went off before it was supposed to, but he left the shot in the movie so that "it gave people something to talk about." If you slow down the movie, you can also see Mr. White's gun going off for a second time as he falls to the ground... the problem is that it's facing in the wrong direction, bent towards Joe. Thing is, Tarantino's decision to leave the "Who shot Eddie?" thing as a mystery means that, ultimately, the shootout makes no sense. The end of the movie has no logic or weight behind it, which clashes with everything we've seen. Yes, some might consider it to be an acceptable creative embellishment, but really it can only be branded one thing: a cop-out. Like this article? Agree or disagree with the points raised in this article? How do you feel about Reservoir Dogs? Let us know all your thoughts in the comments section below.