Am I allowed to disagree?

Rating: 6/10 (29 November 2014)

The fact that an aimless, jarring mish mash of swearing, violence, gangsters, foot massages, royale with cheese, accidental shootings, interrogations, robberies, yelling and a load of characters without any actual character being badass defined the 90s show the 90s was a mixed decade from film. Quentin Tarantino's legendary drama thriller is a non linear collection of various story lines. In one, a very bizarre robbery unfolds at a diner. In another, Vincent Vega has to look after his boss' wife for an evening and they dance, she overdoses and they exchange awful jokes from a pilot she was once in. In another, Butch Coolidge gets into a lot of trouble when about to flee LA... all for a watch. And finally, Vincent and Jules assassinate a man, then have to dispose of a corpse after Vincent has an accident involving a gun and their informant. Don't get me wrong: Pulp Fiction is a good enough film it's just very over-hyped. However, you can almost see the sparks flying as the actors deliver that electric dialogue. It's a script that will make all aspiring scriptwriters jealous.
Quentin Tarantino's direction is very good as well and the film draws out career best performances from Samuel L Jackson and Bruce Willis. John Travolta and Uma Thurman both rock. There are some good bits: The gold watch speech, the dance, the interrogation, the accidental shooting and some of the Bruce Willis segment showcase the amazing writing. However, many other scenes feel banal and unnecessary. Reservoir Dogs was utterly brilliant, so Tarantino got arrogant and made a bloated 2 and a half hour epic which could have 100 minutes. The film has little personality and lacks any kind of message. There's nothing wrong with that, but if I spend 2 and a half hours of my life watching unnecessary scenes I want there to be a purpose. Pulp Fiction is just too long and self indulgent to be a great film. It has plenty of style and is very well written but it's nothing special. Critics never shut up about modern movies being style over substance, yet this is voted one of the best films ever made when it's exactly that?
6/10