PULP FICTION
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1994 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: What would you get if Robert Altman tried to do a super-violent crime film, a cross between SHORT CUTS and SCARFACE? Quentin Tarantino tells a weird collection of inter-connected crime stories peopled by a weirder collection of thugs than Damon Runyan could have imagined on drugs. This is a film with comedy, heavy violence, some terrific dialogue, and a whole lot of entertainment. Rating: high +2 (-4 to +4)
At the heart of it all is Marsellus Wallace (played by Ving Rhames), a Los Angeles crime lord who employs two vicious hitmen, Vince and Jules (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson). The hitmen are on an errand for Marsellus, killing some young hoods who tried to steal from Marsellus. Their conversation is disarming as they discuss how fast food restaurants are different in Europe and what a "TV pilot" is. They also talk about Marsellus's wife Mia (Uma Thurman) and what the crimelord did to someone who gave her a foot massage. It starts likea normal job for the two hoods, but it will not be a normal day and thereby hangs a tale. Meanwhile super-jealous Marsellus is planning to ask Vince to look after Mia for a few days while the crime lord is away on business. But things are not going to happen like Marsellus plans and thereby hangs another tale. At the same time, the crime lord is planning to buy off an aging prizefighter, Butch (Bruce Willis), and to have a fight fixed. Marsellus is not just in for a surprise, but genuinely the shock of his life. And thereby hangs yet another tale. Harvey Keitel has a terrific little piece proving that an expert janitor can have more prestige than a hired gun.
This is a film with some of the weirdest and perhaps among the most engaging criminals ever put on film. Tarantino has a real talent for creating interesting characters and situations, and even for how to set up a scene so that the audience is constantly seeing the unexpected. Even when the plot slows down, as it does during Vince's night out baby-sitting, the film never bogs down.
Tarantino, who authored the script based on stories he co-wrote with Roger Avary, has chosen to tell those stories out of chronological order. That throws the viewer a little off balance, but never to the detriment of the story-telling. Many scenes are familiar, but Tarantino makes us see them with a fresh eye. Whan a character shoots up with heroin, we have a close-up on the hypodermic with red blood swirling into the colorless heroin solution before it is injected. A visit to a chic hamburger restaurant is a setpiece recreating 1950s culture. A taxi ride appears just a little strange until the viewer realizes everything seen out of the windows of the cab is in black and white.
Tarantino has given us a film that is fresh and funny. It is peopled with some of the weirdest characters we have seen on film in quite a while. It will be interesting to see if he can please both fans of his ultra-violent action films and a wider audience looking for interesting stories. If you do not object to the violence this is a most rewarding films with authentic horror, action, and characters of some depth. I give it a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mark.leeper@att.com
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