critic john hartl compared the ear-cutting scene to the shower murder scene in "psycho" and tarantino to david lynch. he furthermore explored parallels between "reservoir dogs" and "glengarry glen ross". after this movie, tarantino was also compared to martin scorsese, sam peckinpah, john singleton, gus van sant, and abel ferrara. for its nonlinear storyline, "reservoir dogs" has also often been compared to "rashomon". critic james berardinelli was of a similar opinion; he complimented both the cast and tarantino's dialogue writing abilities. hal hinson of "the washington post" was also enthusiastic about the cast, complimenting the movie on its "deadpan sense of humor". todd mccarthy called the movie "undeniably impressive" and was of the opinion that it was influenced by "mean streets", "goodfellas" and "the killing".