Rating: 10/10
Review date: October 3, 2003
Pulp Fiction revolves around three separate tales of temptation, corruption and redemption that are interwoven together in a non-chronological manner. The movie begins with a loving couple who spontaneously decided to rob a restaurant which is followed by two hit-men working for the powerful mob boss Marsellus Wallace who is also involved with a boxer named Butch Coolidge.
I’ve always been very curious to see Quentin Tarantino’s work and Pulp Fiction turns out to be one of the best movies I’ve ever seen in years and probably years to come. Finally I had a chance to watch Pulp Fiction and I actually regretted not watching it any earlier. This is a unique film which I foresee myself watching again and again in the future.
What makes Pulp Fiction such a groundbreaking film? Well, it is everything. Yeah, you heard me right, everything from the cast to the script and the dialogue.
Let’s start with the script first of all. It’s really unusual in the sense that there isn’t any action or hilarious scenes. No, this is not that type of movie.
The strength of the script doesn’t lie in an intricate plot or anything like that, it is the witty dialogue that pulls you to be able to identify and feel with the character. It’s brilliantly written in the way that you don’t get the typical one-sided characters that you see most of the time.
Throughout the colorful but ordinary conversations, a lot of things are revealed about the characters which is a very refreshing thing to see. The characters casually talked about McDonalds, foot massages and other little things which are very plausible since that’s what we normally talked about in our daily routines thus helping the audience to connect with the characters at a certain level. This is further enhanced by the fact that most of the locations featured in the movie are places which we are likely to visit daily such as restaurant, apartment etc.
The performances are excellent; it’s rare for me to watch a movie where all of the actors/actresses not only acted plausibly well, there is certain professionalism in there which convinces us to sympathize with their characters.
Ultimately, I found myself falling in love with the leads regardless of what they do in the movie because I can see part of our everyday lives in them and they’re very likable due to their interesting personalities.
John Travolta is great as Vincent Vega with plenty of style as well as oozing coolness all over the place with his slick-looking hair and great acting. Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield is one bad ass religious motherfucker who likes to quote Ezekiel 25:17 while sporting lots of profanity and a cool hairstyle. My only complain is that more screen time should have been given to his character; he’s just too cool.
Uma Thurman looks sexy as Mrs. Mia Wallace in one of her best performances ever while Ving Rhames as Marsellus Wallace is utterly believable as the mob boss with his deep voice.
Bruce Willis portrays his role very well as the down-on-his-luck boxer Butch Coolidge who is supposed to lose a match but ends up killing his opponent instead. Maria de Medeiros performs greatly as Fabienne, Butch Coolidge’s naïve cute looking girlfriend.
Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer acted convincingly as Ringo and Yolanda, the loving couple who are decided to rob the restaurant at the beginning of the movie.
There are some great cameos which features Christopher Walken as Captain Koons and Harvey Keitel as the cleaner character, Winston “The Wolf” Wolfe, which reminds me of Jean Reno’s Viktor character in La Femme Nikita (1990). Quentin Tarantino himself also appears as Jimmie and he acted great as always.
It truly a shame that none of the cast won an Academy Award for Best Actor/Actress as it goes to Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump which is another great movie back in 1994.
Pulp Fiction is one of the most important movies in the last decade without a doubt. It is a classic example of an independent movie that can satisfy the mass audience and earn big bucks for the movie studio. It also shows that a great movie simply requires top-notch acting, refreshingly original screenplay, witty dialogue, some dark humor, hip soundtrack and a certain director with a sense of directing that’s different from the rest. Definitely one of the most original and exhilarating movies I’ve ever seen in my whole life; truly an epic in the history of filmmaking.
*Trivia*
The word “fuck” is used 271 times.
John Travolta’s character, Vincent Vega, is the brother of Vic Vega a.k.a. Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs (1992).
Sylvester Stallone was briefly considered for the role of Butch Coolidge.
Jules Winnfield's "Bad Mother Fucker" wallet actually belongs to Quentin Tarantino.
Winston "The Wolf" Wolfe character played by Harvey Keitel was specifically written for him by Quentin Tarantino.
Harvey Keitel’s character for this film has the same specialized job as his character in Point of No Return (1993) which is the American remake of La Femme Nikita (1990) by Luc Besson.
Memorable quote: “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he, who in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who would attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”
-Samuel L. Jackson as Jules Winnfield-
(c) Martin Taidy 2003