PULP FICTION
A film review by Thomas Skogestad
Copyright 1994 Thomas Skogestad
Rating (out of four): ****
Running time: 144 minutes MPAA rating: R (This being a Tarantino film, no extra explanation is necessary) With: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Willis Written & Directed by: Quentin Tarantino (with Roger Avary on stories) Produced by: Lawrence Bender Released by Miramax Reviewed at: Landmark's California, Berkeley, CA, Oct. 14, 1994 (with a very enthusiastic audience)
The film starts and ends at a coffee shop, where two petty crooks decide to rob something no one would ever expect to be the target of a robbery: the very coffee shop they're having breakfast in. The movie cuts from them just after they start their heist, and then tells three more stories before returning to our coffee guests. Quickly, the three segments are about taking the boss's wife out on a date; a boxer is forced to take a dive--and doesn't comply; and deposing of a body.
Just because this is the order things happen in the movie, does not mean that this is the order things are chronologically. Tarantino successfully juxtaposes time to pack that extra punch.
It's like having a dinner with several different foods, some you don't like, some you love. Therefore you save the best for last, but once in a while you can't restrain yourself, you need that good stuff. But you overeat on what you don't like, so you're a bit disappointed when you're not able to eat all that good stuff. But when the dessert arrives, it's like a whole new stomach opens, and you eat all the treats that are being served.
The movie opens wonderfully, but loses some steam after a while. Not to worry: Tarantino strikes back with an overwhelming power. Especially the last hour and a half or so, which is one long joyride. Just like a good book where you keep counting pages, hoping that there's a lot left. Alas when the end comes--after two and a half hours--the movie is definitely over. You just sit there begging for more.
Like Tarantino's debut--and one of my favorite movies--RESERVOIR DOGS, this movie is full of references to movies and life of all kind.
Butch the pugilist, played by Bruce Willis, plans to run off to Knoxville, Tennessee--the same town Tarantino himself was born.
In the Tarantino executive produced and Roger Avary directed film, KILLING ZOE, Eric Stoltz had a major part. Well, he's here too!
From RESERVOIR DOGS we have Tim Roth and Harvey Keitel in major roles, but not the same. Keitel more or less reprises his role from POINT OF NO RETURN.
And from TRUE ROMANCE we have Christopher Walken, Patricia Arquette's sister--Rosanna, and making personal decisions in a bathroom.
Blaxploitation, pulp, noir, Godard. And the list goes on and on. Really, the movie just has to be experienced.
Yes, the trademark Tarantino dialog and violence is also in this movie. While the violence is perhaps more subdued, it's more often played for humor. There's no resisting laughing when Travolta accidentally (because of a bump in the road) kills a guy and his blood and brain splatters all over the car he's in. It might be sick, but it's a whole lot of fun. This might not seem restrained, but it could be a lot more violent.
And for those wanting S&M, don't waste your money on EXIT TO EDEN, this movie contains a rather shocking sadomasochistic scene with Bruce Willis and Ving Rhames (who plays the man who makes Butch take the fall). The build up to this scene contains a scene where the one person you wouldn't expect to die does. (Tip: Don't go to the bathroom without your weapon.)
Christopher Walken has just one scene in the movie, in which he explains how came the family gold watch which has gotten into his possession--and more important how it was hidden during seven years of P.O.W. captivity. Things like this explain why the movie is more that just "pulp." In a lesser movie we would have the violence, but not the humor. The stars would just be there for sake of a simple cameo, and nothing more. The plot itself might not be considered as that original. But that's not what makes this film interesting. It's what happens to the characters that make the film so great.
I could go on about more technical matters, but I wouldn't want you to miss the next screening of PULP FICTION.
--- Thomas Skogestad thomas@kjemi.unit.no
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