Best Movie of the '90s

Rating: 10/10 (13 March 2010)

What is Pulp Fiction about? On the surface, it is about several unique people and how their lives connect in some way. The cast of characters includes a boxer (Bruce Willis), two gangsters (John Travolta), their boss (Ving Rhames), and his wife (Uma Thurman). The whole movie consists of several small stories that all connect to each other. One of them involves the two gangsters trying to get rid of a dead body and clean up the mess they've made. Another situation has Travolta taking his boss' wife out on a date, her overdosing on cocaine, and him trying to find a way to save her life. There are other story lines that I won't give away because part of the fun is seeing how everything comes together. But the story is not told in chronological order. It jumps back and forth between stories in a way that would normally be confusing, but the brilliant screenplay makes everything flow nice and smooth.
If you like to look at movies for their meaning and artistic value, then you could say that Pulp Fiction is about how people have lost all meaning and value in their lives. Instead of having individuality, people define themselves by what they see in pop culture. The movie has endless references to pop culture and it seems that everything in the movie is inspired by some aspect of pop culture. This is not a lack of originality, but a way to show that everything we do is inspired by something or somebody else. A perfect example is when Bruce Willis' character, Butch, is talking to a Hispanic cab driver who asks him the meaning of his name. He says, "This is America, honey, our names don't mean sh*t." To me, the meaning of Pulp Fiction is that each moment has its own priorities. Something might be important to you at one moment in time, but in another not important at all. One minute you could be racking your brain over what you are going to say in your next Facebook status update, and the next you could have a gun in your face. People think they know what is important to them until something else happens that completely changes their priorities. Take, for example, the part where Butch Coolidge sees the man who wants him dead. At one point, they are trying to kill each other, and suddenly one is trying to save the other from getting raped by some psychos in a gun shop. When it is all said and done, they don't even care about why they were fighting in the first place because something bigger and more important is happening.
One of the things that makes Pulp Fiction great is that if you don't want to think too much about the deep, philosophical meaning to it, then you can just enjoy the movie for what it is-a humorous, violent, and stylish portrayal of several characters and their encounters with one another. It has a little something for everyone, and the more times you watch it, the more you begin to understand and appreciate it.
The genius of the movie comes out in its dialogue. Everything the characters say has meaning or it foreshadows something that is going to happen. For example, when Travolta and Jackson are talking, Travolta says that in France, a quarter pounder with cheese is called a "royale with cheese." Soon after, when they are about to do a hit on a few college kids, Jackson asks one of them about the hamburger he is eating. He then uses the "royale with cheese" line on him, which leads to one of the funniest conversations in the history of movies.
The Academy-Award nominated performance by Samuel L. Jackson creates one of the coolest, funniest, and greatest characters ever. Despite how crazy the whole movie is (and how ridiculous his hair is), we never get the feeling that he is acting. He makes us think that he is a real person and truly believes everything he says. It is very exhilarating to watch how he starts off as a mob hit man with little meaning in his life and transforms into a deeper, more self-aware person.
Pulp Fiction is not only the best movie of the '90s, but it is one of the greatest films of all time. Whether you like hilarious comedies, violent action thrillers, or a deeply absorbing drama-you can enjoy it. The first time you watch it, don't try and think too much about it; just watch how the plot unfolds and everything comes together. Watch the funny conversations between Travolta and Jackson, the funky dance scene with Travolta and Thurman, and all of the other moments that make Pulp Fiction a truly memorable movie.
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