A Classic

Rating: 10/10 (2 February 2011)

Pulp Fiction is the excellent work of director Quentin Tarantino. The story and overall theme consists of four separate stories that are following the different characters through their interactions with one another in a non-chronological manner. The first story consists of gangster hit men Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson). The second story is with Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames), who is Vincent and Jules' boss, and his wife Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman). The third story follows a boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis). The final storyline is with Yolanda (Amanda Plummer) and Ringo (Tim Roth), which bookends the movie making its appearance at the beginning and end of the film. Tarantino utilized a similar style of story in Reservoir Dogs, starting the movie at a point that was brought back into focus much later in the film.
The story starts with Yolanda (also known as Honey Bunny) and Ringo (also known as Pumpkin) discussing the finer points of how robbing liquor stores business is getting to be too risky of a business at a coffee shop. They decide they now would be a great time to rob that coffee shop as they saw it to be easy money. This will play a large role later in the movie.
Then you are introduced to Vincent and Jules. They are hit men working for Marsellus. You get to see into to their gangster lifestyle. As with the execution style murder they commit to retrieve a briefcase of Marcellus'. First hand, you get the see the angle of the murder like you were sitting in the room with them. A man unbeknown to Vincent and Jules pops out of a bedroom and fires shots at Vincent and Jules from point blank but they all miss. Jules looks on this as being a miracle and says he's a changed man and wants to reform his life. However, the next task that Vincent is assigned is one he's not familiar with. Vincent has been asked by Marcellus' request to show his wife a good time while Marcellus is out on business. This leads into the next storyline with Vincent and Mia Wallace.
Vincent accompanies Mia on a dinner where they enjoy themselves over getting to know you talk and then ultimately Vincent drives Mia home. As Vincent goes inside the Wallace residence to use the restroom, Mia gets what she thinks is a bag of cocaine out of Vincent's jacket and helps herself to a line of it. This turns out to be a nearly fatal error as what she snorted ended up being "the mad man" heroin he had just purchased earlier in the day. He is able to save her life by rushing her to a friends house and administering an adrenaline shot that once again makes you think that you are in the room with them at the time its happening.
After this sequence Butch is introduced. When you meet him he is telling Marcellus Wallace that "in the 5th he is going down", taking a dive as they say in boxing. However, Butch does not make good in his promise to Marcellus and ends up killing the other boxer in the ring. He plans on making off with Marcellus' money and fleeing.
The best aspect of the movie is how these almost separate stories are sewn together are tied together by smart storytelling. Vincent and Jules are on their way to do a job for Marcellus to retrieve his bag. At this job they have an informant that is waiting there for them. After the job is done they take this man (Marvin) back to his side of town, but along the way while asking Marvin a question Vincent's gun accidentally fires off completely blowing away Marvin's head in the car. They take the car to a safe house to clean it out. To rid themselves of their bloody clothes, the man who owns the safe house (Jimmie) gives them very uncharacteristic, beach attire to wear. You see them earlier on in the movie in these clothes but you don't know why yet. After they get the car situation with Marvin's blood all over it resolved, they stop to pick up breakfast. They go to breakfast at the same place where Yolanda and Ringo are planning to hold up at the beginning of the movie. The closing sequence is Jules talking Ringo down from holding up to the store and ultimately letting Ringo go as he said he can change his ways just as Jules has proclaimed he has changed his. Then later on days later after a few days after the Butch kills the man in the ring and tries to make off with the money. Vincent is waiting for him in his apartment. However at the time that Butch comes home Vincent is in the bathroom, Butch sees Vincent's gun on the counter and ends up shooting Vincent.
The movie makes great strides to tell you story of the characters involved. Tarantino's style of character building is excellent in this film. The first time you see the movie you might not quite understand where the story is going, but you will realize the genius of the movie by the time you are through watching it.