PULP FICTION
A film review by Raymond Johnston
Copyright 1994 Raymond Johnston
Dir: Quentin Tarentino Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken, Tim Roth, Eric Stoltz, Amanda Plummer, Roseanne Arquette, Harvey Keitel and Bruce Willis. Screenplay: Quentin Tarentino and Roger Avery Executive Producers include Danny DeVito
There is an axiom that directors who have a big hit with their debut have a big bomb with their second film. From Orson Welles to Spike Lee and John Singleton, this has held true. Quentin Tarentino, who came out of nowhere to write and direct RESERVOIR DOGS has broken that rule with PULP FICTION. It shows no signs of being the work of a young man struggling with too many ideas. Instead it is the polished work of an accomplished film maker.
As the title suggests, the film is about the world of gangsters and gamblers that populated the cheap paperback fiction of the thirties, forties and fifties, updated to a somewhat nebulous modern time. Just as SHORT CUTS interweaved various highbrow story threads into one somewhat convoluted and far reaching story, PULP FICTION takes themes from Cornell Woolrich and Raymond Chandler, mixes them with Seventies' TV and Fifties' movies into intertwining stories of deals gone wrong and criminals searching for some bigger meaning to it all.
Surprisingly enough, John Travolta, considered by many to be a has-been, or a one-hit wonder turns in the performance of his career. As the hapless hitman who figures into all the story threads he holds the film together. Between jobs he rattles on constantly to his cohort Samuel L. Jackson about the glories of life in Amsterdam and eroticism of foot massages. Jackson tends more towards quoting TV shows and Blaxploitaion movies. Travolta and Jackson encounter the rest of the all star cast, most of whom really just have glorified cameos in their own little story segments.
The various story segments each reflect different elements of pulp fiction genres- fixed fights, double crossed deals, dance contests, narcotics, weird perversions, and mob hits. Each story is really an homage to a famous crime film, THE KILLERS , THE SET-UP and KISS ME DEADLY, to name just a couple. Even samurai films get a slight nod. The stories quickly swings from surreal to absurd to profound, and no story is without its share of media savvy humor. Almost all the characters seem obsessed with the media. Hitman Travolta points out the difference between a Marilyn Monroe look alike and a Mamie van Doren look alike. Jackson quotes the "Kung Fu" series.
Tarantino's ear for dialogue and eye for sight gags is priceless. The little throw away lines and obtuse arguments that the characters constantly get into are what make this sometimes ultra-violent film worthwhile. Just when you peg a scene as being routine, some odd comic mishap sends the plot off in another direction. Tarentino also uses an odd non-linear narrative structure that leaves some important unanswered questions, and then fills in the gaps by returning to some plot threads, sort of like Kubrik's structure in THE KILLING, but not quite as rigorous. This structure works by keeping the pace steady and building some suspense.
While the film is, at close to two and a half hours, never boring and a great success, it has a few minor faults. A bizarre S& M scene doesn't really match the offhandedly flip tone of the rest of the film. Another is that some of the highly hyped actors in the film have little more than a cameo. Uma Thurman is really just in two scenes, Harvey Keitel in one, and Chris Walken has just a few lines. And while Tarentino scores big as both writer and director, he scores much less an actor. With actors of the caliber of Chris Walken doing bits, Tarentino just doesn't hold up in his acting scene.
Those minor quibbles aside, it is easy to see why PULP FICTION won the Palm d'or at Cannes. It delivers on the potential that the low-budget RESERVOIR DOGS promised.
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