Inglourious Basterds

On the other hand, Tarantino overindulges horror movie director-turned-actor Eli Roth as the most ferocious of the Basterds, doing horrible things to a Boston accent only a kid from the western suburbs would dare. Next to Waltz, the most enjoyable performance in “Basterds’’ comes from British actor Michael Fassbender as the drily capable Lieutenant Archie Hicox, a key player in that beer hall scene. The movie cruelly hangs him out to dry, though.

It’s obviously too much to expect a clever kid - which at 46, Tarantino still is - to grapple with history in any meaningful sense. For all that, the movie’s pop-art shallowness feels forced. “Inglorious Basterds’’ is an entertainment but an uneasy one; it represents 153 minutes of bravura stalling, after which its creator loses interest and walks away. Tarantino may be the most talented filmmaker in America who prides himself on having absolutely nothing to say.