PULP FICTION
A film review by David Landers
Copyright 1997 David Landers
RATING: **** out of **** - 9.5 out of 10.0 CAST: Samuel L. Jackson (Jules Winnfield), John Travolta (Vincent Vega), Bruce Willis (Butch Coolidge), Ving Rhames (Marsellus Wallace), Uma Thurman (Mia Wallace), Tim Roth (Pumpkin), Amanda Plummer (Honey Bunny), Eric Stoltz (Lance), Christopher Walken (Captain Koons), Quentin Tarantino (Jimmie), Harvey Keitel (Winston Wolf), Angela Jones (Esmarelda Villalobos), Maria de Medeiros (Fabienne), Brett (Frank Whaley) DIRECTOR: Quentin Tarantino CERTIFICATION: R (USA) for excessive violence, language, graphic images, and drug use YEAR OF PRODUCTION: 1994 ACADEMY AWARDS: Best Original Screenplay (Tarantino), ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS: Best Picture, Best Director (Tarantino), Best Actor (Travolta), Best Supporting Actor (Jackson), Best Supporting Actress (Thurman), Best Film Editing (Sally Menke),
PULP FICTION, Quentin Tarantino's anxiously awaited and superb follow-up to RESERVOIR DOGS, is absolutely and without a doubt progressing as one of the most talked about, loved, and hated films of all-time. In all fairness, it should be noted that those who love this film greatly outnumber those who hate it. As if RESERVOIR DOGS wasn't perfect, Tarantino went ahead and improved on perfection by creating PULP FICTION, a fast-paced, hard talking, roller coaster ride of a movie that combines violence and extraordinary dialogue in a seemingly perfect way.
Every major character in this film is represented by a terrific acting performance by the actor. To begin with, the two hit men: Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson). These two characters work together perfectly, and the performances by each actor are nearly perfect. Travolta, in fact, is still trying to get out of the Vincent Vega role.
If these two characters were not enough, there's the struggling boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis), the two small-time criminals Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer), the big man in charge Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) and his attractive young wife Mia (Uma Thurman), and the "problem solver" himself, The Wolf (Harvey Keitel). These are just the major characters.
Smaller roles, but equally terrific, are handed to Jimmie (Quentin Tarantino), a young married man who gets caught up in some serious gangster business, Lance (Eric Stoltz), the far-out drug dealer, as well as Maynard (Duane Whitaker) and Zed (Peter Greene), two hillbillies who are the men "behind" (no pun intended for those of you who have seen this) a very disturbing scene towards the end of the film.
The film interweaves three stories that, at first, seem to be nothing alike but later prove to be very critical to each other. The film begins with Pumpkin and Honey Bunny in a small coffee shop discussing their recent robberies and hold-ups. The two quickly decide to hold up the coffee shop, unknowing of what lies ahead.
After this, the film focuses for some time on Vincent and Jules and their hit man lifestyle. Utilizing the films unforgettable dialogue, the two men discuss such things as hamburgers and foot massages before they bust into an apartment to terrorize the occupants. The two men were sent to the apartment to recover a mysterious briefcase for their boss, Marsellus Wallace. After basically toying with the men, especially the unfortunate Brett (Frank Whaley), Vincent and Jules complete their mission and recover the briefcase. This is not before a man jumps out from a bathroom with a .357 "hand cannon", shooting at the two gangsters. He somehow completely misses them, leading Jules to cite divine intervention. This is also the basis for more of the now-famous Tarantino dialogue.
The film then shifts to focus on boxer Butch Coolidge and his boxing escapades. Butch was ordered to take a fall in his latest fight, but when he does not, Marsellus vows to find him, wherever he is, and make sure that Butch is not able to enjoy his new fortune.
Vincent, meanwhile, has the honor of taking Marsellus' wife, Mia, out on a date while the big man is out of town. Vincent, obviously, is rather nervous about this, especially after hearing the tale about a man who was thrown out of a window for supposedly giving Mia a foot massage. After their date, which seems to rather smoothly, things take a turn for the worst at the hands of Vincent's high-priced heroin, dubbed a "monster" by Lance.
Each story continually progresses, and new and amazing events occur. Eventually, the stories all meet each other in the end, with Pumpkin and Honey Bunny holding up the restaurant, which happens to contain both Vincent and Jules.
PULP FICTION is definitely one of the best films of the decade, and possibly of all-time. Along with its superb dialogue, action, writing, directing, and acting, this film will not only latch onto you, but it proves that it does not want to release you until it has sunk its claws completely into you. And with most fans of this movie, this is proved to be a rather easy task, although at times the graphic images, violence, and language may seem a bit overpowering. Surely, Quentin Tarantino's fame was greatly escalated by this film, and he proves not to be one who will fade from existence very soon.
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