Pulp Fiction (1994)

Pulp Fiction

1994

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Eric Stoltz, Tim Roth, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

It's about time I get around to reviewing Pulp Fiction for several reasons. Number one, it's probably in my top three favorite films ever made, and number two, I owe it to this film to give it a great review.

If you haven't seen Pulp Fiction, you should be shot in the face. The reason I say this is because either you love this movie or hate it. In fact, I've only met like two people in my life who didn't like this movie. Their reasoning: "It was too violent and had too much bad language." To that, I say FUCK YOU because you wouldn't know a good film if it fucked you in your face.

Pulp Fiction is essentially a story revolving around two hitmen (Travolta & Jackson), their boss (Ving Rhames) and his wife (Uma Thurman), and a middle-aged and over the hill boxer (Bruce Willis). However, the film is told completely out of order and for a reason: SO YOU DON'T GET TO KNOW ALL THE CHARACTERS UNTIL THE VERY END. Some people who have liked it have even complained that it being out of order and synchronization left them confused. Only a complete moron would be confused at Pulp Fiction. In fact, the way that each little portion of the film unfolds is nothing short of genious and filmmakers since have done nothing but rip Tarantino off for his punchy and witty dialogue and his ecclectic manner of filmmaking. In fact, I've seen more knock-off Tarantino films than I have seen actual Tarantino films. This goes to show you that one man CAN make a difference in filmmaking.

I can't even begin to explain this film because if I do, I will ruin the experience for those who haven't seen it. Yes, I said experience because that's what this film is. It's an experience in filmmaking that you just have to see and experience for yourself. There's not a lot of action and it's basically a two and a half hour dialogue driven movie, but that's the beauty of it. It's so long that when something happens, it's so rewarding because you care about each and every character on screen. You even care about the horrible and disgusting people because they are so well defined and acted. I mean, the story essentially focuses on two hit men and every time they are onscreen, you stare in disbelief at what they are saying or how they believe about a certain thing. It's sheer genious.

There is nothing bad I can say about Pulp Fiction. Nothing at all. When I first saw the movie, I had seen the movie poster and couldn't believe all of the famous people it had in it. So, when it finally came out on video, I rented it and sat for 2 1/2 hours in my room in disbelief. I couldn't believe that someone could make a movie so fucking good that I would want to spend another 2 1/2 hours watching it again. In fact, in the two days I rented it, I watched it almost five times. That's something I can't say about any other movie I've seen. I was so in love with each and every character that it was like a good book that you read over and over because you feel as if you know the characters so well. Now each time I watch it, it's like a family reunion where I get to visit old friends and family. Even when I watch it now I still pick up on things I haven't seen before. You know, the little things you don't catch unless you repeatedly watch something. Now I can say I've seen this movie probably around 100 times and I'm damn proud of that fact.

The directing from Tarantino is superb. In fact, it's probably one of the best (if not the best) directed films ever made. I mean, come on, this is the movie that brought John Travolta back to a career. He had become nothing and his role as Vincent Vega made him something again. This film also propelled people like Samuel L. Jackson and Uma Thurman into the top level of the acting community. The direction couldn't have been any better.

The script is even better than the directing, which is only enhanced by the ensemble cast of characters chosen to bring them to life. Tarantino's dialogue and story is nothing short of brilliance and the sheer originality of Pulp Fiction makes it all that much better. A friend of Tarantino's, Roger Avary, gave him some ideas for a few of the characters (which gives him a "story by" credit), but other than that, Tarantino reigns supreme on this film. He's not afraid to offend you and then make you laugh all within a five second span, which makes me think that Tarantino has the biggest set of balls in filmmaking.

The editing and special fx (what little fx there are) are top-notch. The film is edited in such a manner that by the end of the film, you understand everything and by the last frame before the credits, you feel like you understand each and every character. I give credit to the script for this, but only a great editor could have understood how to cut a movie like this and not distract from the story. There's no fancy bullet-time or speed clips, no fancy dissolves or smash cuts... it's all cut in a traditional way that it feels classic.

With all that said, I have to mention the music. Pulp Fiction has such an odd but great soundtrack that everything feels so perfectly aligned. With every musical note or song that you hear, there is a reasoning for it, and everything feels like it was hand-picked by God himself to be in this movie to make it perfect. If you took one song out, the movie would suffer. It's so good that the soundtrack and film go hand in hand, and I can't rave enough about how well every musical piece is placed. It's almost like having the perfect soundtrack to life.

All in all, I HIGHLY recommend Pulp Fiction. Sure it's full of profanity, violence, and will make you shake your head in disbelief, but isn't that what makes films good? I mean, if it can't touch you in any way, it's an empty and shallow film. Here, Pulp Fiction will touch you in such a way that you will feel sad when it's over, feel happy when someone gets what they deserve, and feel pitty for those you shouldn't. Pulp Fiction will forever go down in my book as one of the best films ever made.

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