It's the way Tarantino embellishes and, finally, interlinks these old chestnuts that makes the film alternately exhilarating and frustrating.
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Rated: 18
Runtime: 2 hrs 46 mins
Theatrical Release: 00-00-0000
Synopsis: Writer-director Quentin Tarantino revisits the seedier side of Los Angeles--following 1992's RESERVOIR DOGS--with this funny, violent, tongue-in-cheek tribute to the less "classic" side of filmmaking--the potboilers and capers, the Blaxploitation flicks and gangster movies. The... Writer-director Quentin Tarantino revisits the seedier side of Los Angeles--following 1992's RESERVOIR DOGS--with this funny, violent, tongue-in-cheek tribute to the less "classic" side of filmmaking--the potboilers and capers, the Blaxploitation flicks and gangster movies. The film interweaves three tales, told in a circular, fractured manner, which only fully connect by the time the final credits roll. The first story focuses on Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson), two hit men on duty for "the big boss," Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), whose gorgeous wife, Mia (Uma Thurman), takes a liking to Vincent. In the second, a down-and-out pugilist (Bruce Willis), who is ordered to take a fall, decides that there's more money in doing the opposite. The final chapter follows a pair of lovers (Amanda Plummer and Tim Roth) as they prepare to hold up a diner. Tarantino wears his cinematic influences proudly, bringing them to life in the ironically hip, self-referential 1990s. The result is a work that changed the face of independent cinema forever, making it a legitimate player in the Hollywood mainstream. The all-star cast steps into their roles with obvious glee, and Tarantino once again uses his soundtrack to up the "cool" ante yet another notch, making for a motion picture event that has worked its way into our national vernacular. [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Uma Thurman, Harvey Keitel
Screenwriter: Quentin Tarantino
Story: Roger Avary, Quentin Tarantino
Producer: Lawrence Bender
DVD Info
Release:
Jan 9, 2006
Reviews
It's hard to over sell a movie that is so supremely confident in writing and direction.
Brilliantly written and unfathomably cool, this would make a good case for most quotable crime movie of all time.
But what makes the film such wicked fun is the way Tarantino delivers the familiar with a twist. He continually prepares us for one thing and then delivers another.
The overall project is evident: to evict real life and real people from the art film and replace them with generic teases and assorted hommages. Don't expect any of the life experiences of the old movie sources to leak through.
One of the coolest things about Pulp Fiction is its many links to other pleasures.
Tarantino shows penchant for the rhythm of words--the banter has the drollery of gangland Samuel Beckett--and he's also good at taking seemingly routine situations and giving them a sudden vertiginous twist, such as the farcical drug overdoze scene.
In most cases, the three-act, A-to-B-to-C film formula works just fine. But the letter Q makes the other letters obsolete.
A devilishly lurid blast of great entertainment. Ultra-violent and wickedly funny.
It can be a difficult, rattling experience, but this reviewer has found its rewards to vastly outweigh its weaknesses.
There’s cleverness at work...but Tarantino’s 154-minute film rambles with nihilist fantasy and pop in-jokes.
Without its commitment to an idea of salvation, Pulp Fiction would be little more than a terrific parlor trick; with it, it's something far richer and more haunting.
A triumphant, cleverly disorienting journey through a demimonde that springs entirely from Mr. Tarantino's ripe imagination, a landscape of danger, shock, hilarity and vibrant local color.
This fictional world, though rendered imaginatively, can't sustain the movie.
Related Forums
by: popestreet 4/4
News
posted by Scott Weinberg June 27, 2007
Well, according to one source he sure seems to be ... maybe.
posted by Scott Weinberg June 22, 2007
Ten years ago the AFI gave us a list of the Top 100 American Films Ever Made -- and when that was done they churned out 15...
posted by Jen Yamato May 10, 2007
Bruce Willis has been chatting up some lucky web readers over his upcoming reemergence in "Live Free or Die...
posted by Jen Yamato January 03, 2007
If you're MySpace friends with "Clerks" man Kevin Smith, you already know that the uber fanboy is a...


Top Critic