Film Review: Pulp Fiction

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Tarantino's second film after the superb Reservoir Dogs was a more ambitious affair with a bigger cast and a non-linear storyline. Although much of the cast from his first film return in various roles including Harvey Keitel, Steve Buscemi and Tim Roth. Much like the reference to its title at the beginning the film is slightly shapeless with many questions unanswered.

Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson)

The film revolves around three different plot lines that are told in 7 scenes which are not shown in chronological order. The scenes which bookend the film look at Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Hunny Bunny (Amanda Plummer) starting a robbery of a restaurant. We then see Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L.Jackson) retrieve a suitcase for their boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) whilst Vega must entertain Marsellus wife Mia (Uma Thurman) without being seduced by her. The final story is about Butch (Bruce Willis) who agrees to throw a fight for Marsellus for one last big payoff. The stories slowly become connected as the film develops into a tense finale.

This is the film that is generally seen as the reason behind John Travolta's acting comeback and it only came about because Michael Madsen (who played Vic Vega in Reservoir Dogs) was unavailable as he was shooting Wyatt Earp. This is a decision he still regrets many years later. Travolta puts in a good performance but is slightly over-shadowed by Samuel L. Jackson who is superb as his foul-mouthed religious partner in crime.

Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace

Bruce Willis is very convincing as the over the hill boxer in a role he seemed more comfortable in. The overall piece is similar to The Big Lebowski in terms of the plot itself being only half the film with much of the quick witted dialogue between characters providing more of the entertainment. Some parts the film grinds to a halt but overall its completely intriguing all the way.

3.5/4 genre defining film with memorable dialogue throughout