Review of Pulp Fiction (1994) by John P — 11 Feb 2014

In a previous review, I wrote that Terantino's Reservoir Dogs was "one of the most blood soaked, shockingly violent, and wildly entertaining movies I've ever seen", that "it makes you want to laugh, then leaves you wondering if you're all there" and that "Terantino must be nuts to come up with material this demented." All this is even truer of Pulp Fiction. This movie is violent, completely off the wall, often downright bizarre, and one of the best films I have ever watched. It contains some of the deepest, funniest, and most realistic dialogue put on film, features a highly talented ensemble cast, and manages to be totally original while at the same time paying homage to the best (or at least hippest) pieces of twentieth century pop culture.

I won't get into the standard plot summary because there is no way to summarize it. In fact, you could say there is no one plot, but rather several parallel ones that briefly intersect. And none of this is in any particular order. You really don't have any idea what this movie is about until it's over, and even then you wouldn't be able to explain it to someone else. Suffice it to that Pulp fiction revolves around the interactions of one of LA's top gangsters (Ving Rhames), his girlfriend (Uma Thurman), his two best hit men (John Travolta and Samuel L Jackson), their drug dealer (Eric Stoltz) a washed up boxer (Bruce Willis), a pair of small time thieves (Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer), and a briefcase of great value and unknown contents.

In any case, the plot isn't what's important. It merely serves as a vehicle for blood drenched shootouts and fight scenes, dance offs, pop cultural asides, and fascinating conversations. The best known of these is of course the cheeseburger scene, in which Vince and Jules (Travolta and Jackson's characters) discuss the French terms for McDonald's items while driving through a run-down section of LA.

On the face of it, their dialogue may seem pointless, or lightweight, but that's exactly what's brilliant about it. From their conversation, you'd never guess that they're on their way to kill someone. They're just a couple of buds chatting it up. They could be going to dinner or a movie premier. But then they step out of the car, remove their guns from the trunk, and become all business. The sudden transition from cheeseburgers to contract killings is abrupt, completely unexpected, and absolutely brilliant.

At other times, even in the wackiest settings, the dialogue borders on the profound. Take for instance Jackson's Old Testament spiel before killing someone. Ezekiel 25:17 would surely be the most awesome verse in the Bible if it weren't cobbled together from three different verses. Or take Travolta and Thurman's conversation at Jackrabbit Slim's. They're sitting in a booth shaped like a Cadillac, being waited on by a Buddy Holly look alike, but they manage to achieve fairly deep insight into the awkwardness and discomfort we all feel when getting to know someone. To quote, "Why do we feel it's necessary to talk about bull**** to be comfortable.

But before we're given too much time to ponder such matters, the film makes another abrupt turn, giving us an overdose scene that is both shocking and hysterical. It's like a keystone cops routine with a woman's life in the balance, if you can imagine such a thing. This combination of the horrifying and the hilarious is of course one of the trademarks of Terantino's work. A similar dynamic is at work in the entire 'Bonnie Situation' section, in which Terantino makes an extended appearance and gets what might be the Pulp Fiction's best line. And don't even get me started on the 'Bring out the gimp' scene.

Besides the graphic violence and the fair amount of sexual content, some of which is thankfully only implied, language is also a big part of the movie's shock value. The people in this movie use more profanity than a high school freshman trying too hard to establish street cred. I lost count of the F-bombs somewhere around 100, and I wasn't even at the halfway point. Yet not a single utterance ever seems unnecessary or added just to shock. Instead, we get the feeling that this is just how these people talk, and why wouldn't they, given their lines of work. And in many cases the screenplay uses profanity to great comic effect, as with the aforementioned Terantino delivered line, which derives its impact from a certain racial epitaph so charged that I dare not say it.

Honestly, I'm not sure that anything I write can do justice to this movie. Few films have ever been as original, oddball, or memorable as Pulp Fiction. No other movie in the last twenty years has had the same impact on popular culture or spawned as many imitators. Pulp Fiction is to 70's exploitation films what Indiana Jones is to the pulp serials of the 30's and 40's. It will be likely be too much for many audiences, and for goodness sake keep it away from the kids, but for fans of any of the many genres this movie fits into it will come as a real treat.