My review of Pulp Fiction

Now one thing I felt while watching this film is that even for a Tarantino film, it is incredibly unique. Even before this marathon started, I'd seen about 75% of his stuff and none of it is like this except in basic structure (acts and non-chronologically). The whole feel of the film is unlike anything I have experienced. The guy is a certified genius.

Oh, and one other thing, There has been much debate as to what is in The Briefcase. Cracked.com wrote in an article of theirs called 'Seven Hotly Debated Movie Questions That Totally Have Answers' and said that in the script it was the diamonds from Reservoir Dogs. THIS IS NOT THE ANSWER. Tarantino decided not to go with that because it was too mundane. I agree. Finding out what was in the briefcase would be like knowing how the Joker got his scars. We don't need to know. It's more fun guessing than knowing. But, my OFFICIAL NASEBY GUESS as to what is in the briefcase (the one that would be most interesting and I don't want it to be true if that makes sense) IS: The version of The Godfather Part III that didn't suck. Moving on.

Acting/Characters: Tarantino has a brilliant knack for picking actors who do a great job carrying the film. Here is no exception. Bruce Willis, Vhing Rames, Christopher Walken Harvey Keitel, Quinten Tarantino himself, and of course, Uma Thurman, John Travolta, and Samuel L. Jackson. This is a cast that lesser directors dream about but Tarantino uses them all to great effect and a such, this film had 3 acting Oscar nominations (Thurman, Travolta, and Jackson). Also, Tarantino is really good at character development. Of what I've seen, most of his characters go through some sort of transition that makes their characters change during the film. I think that this film is where he does it the best particularly with Jules. He is just great with characters and I feel that if the rest of the film industry had the knack of creating engaging and interesting characters that he has, we wouldn't be complaining about how far in the dumps the industry is. But he rocks at making great characters. 10/10

Plot: Like most of his films, it is presented out of order chronologically. I think this really works for him. It gives him his own unique style that no one else could do like he does. He also has aspects of separate stories in here but they all interconnect. Now, It takes talent to do this. If a director doesn't know what he is doing, it cam make for a disastrous film that is impossible to follow. Tarantino pulls it of with ease. His unique style also employs the use of 'chapters' in his film. They usually all add up together to make up the story, but here they are a little more like interconnected vignettes. Each vignette is highly enjoyable and each one could almost be their own separate movie (that may be stretching a bit) if they wanted. I enjoy the homage aspect of it but I think what I like the most about the plot is its masterful use of dark humor. I enjoy subtle dark humor a lot and Tarantino uses it masterfully here. I could rant on about each individual moment of genius in the plot but I don't have than much space. I think the rating of 10/10 speaks for itself.

Screenplay: If the acting in a Tarantino film is good, if the plot is amazing, the screenplay is always genius. Dialogue-heavy films in this day and age are always risky. People complain about things like how the bar scene in Inglourious Basterds was boring. Like everything else though, Tarantino pulls it off with ease. He usually has a few great lines that stand above the rest.
"English Mother f***** DO YOU SPEAK IT!?"

"Zed's dead, baby. Zed's dead."

"You know what they call a... a... a Quarter Pounder with Cheese in Paris?"
"They don't call it a Quarter Pounder with cheese?"
"No man, they got the metric system. They wouldn't know what the fuck a Quarter Pounder is."
"Then what do they call it?"
"They call it a Royale with cheese."
"A Royale with cheese. What do they call a Big Mac?"
"Well, a Big Mac's a Big Mac, but they call it le Big-Mac."
"Le Big-Mac. Ha ha ha ha. What do they call a Whopper?"
"I dunno, I didn't go into Burger King."

Other directors wish they could write scripts like Tarantino but few can. I mean, he won the Oscar for This screenplay. He deserved it too. The fact that his movies are so dialogue heavy and so successful means that he is great at writing screenplays. This one may be his best. Basterds is competition, but this may be his best one. I'll leave that up to you to decide. 10/10

Likableness: I really liked this movie a lot and I would not mind owning it if I got the chance. Anyone who can appreciate film knows that this one is an amazing film. Great characters, an engaging plot, and a fantastic screenplay make this a fun enjoyable film for the whole family (ha ha just kidding on that whole family part. Seriously, do not show this to your children) but it's a fantastic film. I enjoyed every minute of it (well, maybe not the 'gimp' scene so much). It is a great film that I suggest to anyone who has not seen it. 10/10

Final Score: 40/40 100% (N)
Tomatometer rating: 94%
Tomatometer rating if my review was added: 94%



TRIVIA TIME: 1. The passage from the Bible that Jules has memorized was mostly made up by Quentin Tarantino and Samuel L. Jackson. The only part that's similar to what the Bible says is the part where he says, "And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger. And you will know My name is the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon thee." However, the parts about the righteous man and the shepherd are not real.

2. Daniel Day-Lewis (who incidentally shares a birthday with Uma Thurman) wanted the role of Vincent Vega, but Quentin Tarantino turned him down in favor of John Travolta.

3. The role of Vincent Vega was written for Michael Madsen, who played the character's brother, Vic Vega, in Reservoir Dogs (1992), but he couldn't do the film due to scheduling conflicts for another film.

4. Tarantino has said that it was Butch that keys Vincent's car.

5. Quentin Tarantino hesitated over the choice between the character he was going to play: Jimmie or Lance. He ended up choosing Jimmie's role because he wanted to be behind the camera in Mia's overdose scene.

6. The marquee where Butch boxes advertises the following fights: "Coolidge vs Wilson" and "Vossler vs Martinez". The first is a reference to United States Presidents Calvin Coolidge and Woodrow Wilson, the second is a reference to Russell Vossler and Jerry Martinez, who are two friends of Tarantino's from when he worked in a video store.

7. Knoxville, Tennessee, where Butch was meeting his connection and where his great-grandfather bought the gold watch, is also Quentin Tarantino's birthplace.

8. Isabella Rossellini, Meg Ryan, Daryl Hannah, Joan Cusack and Michelle Pfeiffer were all interviewed for the role of Mia Wallace. Out of all of them, Tarantino said he preferred Pfeiffer. Other actors considered for the film included Daniel Day-Lewis as Vincent, Mickey Rourke, Matt Dillon and Sylvester Stallone as Butch, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daryl Hannah, Meg Ryan, Joan Cusack and Isabella Rossellini as Mia. Rosanna Arquette also auditioned for Mia, but was offered Jody instead.

9. Courtney Love claimed that Quentin Tarantino originally wanted Kurt Cobain and her to play Lance and Jody. However, Tarantino denies ever having even met Kurt, much less offered him a part.

10. Having to refuse the role of Jimmie due to scheduling conflicts, Steve Buscemi appears as the Buddy Holly waiter in Jack Rabbit Slim's. As Mr. Pink in Reservoir Dogs, he refused to tip wait staff.