Overrated

Rating: 1/10 (23 May 2010)

Overrated is an understatement. This movie is start to finish garbage. I though Reservoir Dogs was an OK movie, and I liked Inglourious Basterds a lot. I don't have a problem with violent or perverse content in movies (My all-time favorite is David Fincher's Fight Club), but this movie is just crap. I understand the nostalgic aura about how this movie "revolutionized" what was acceptable to do in movies, but that doesn't make it a good movie by any means.
The acting as a whole was entirely sub-par. As usual, Samuel L. Jackson's acting is consistent with the career he has built on shouting (a la "Snakes on a Plane") and contributed nothing positive to the movie. Same goes for John Travolta, whose acting was arguably worse than Jackson's. There's a significant unconvincing "memorization" tone to his lines. The only reason this is considered to have resurrected his career is because he was in the movie at all; once the movie became a cult classic, he became the marketable actor he once was.
I already said I don't have a problem with movies that contain explicit language, but in Pulp Fiction, there are certain instances where too many expletives are inserted, and I'm not sure for what effect. If you listen to Tarentino's lines (as Jimmy) and Jackson's lines (when they're cleaning out the car), I think these lines best exemplify the overkill I'm talking about.
Another thing about the movie is it is generally not relatable. I realize this seems like not a legitimate complaint- after all, how marketable would a movie really be if it was wholly relatable? However, I just felt like the over-glorification heroin use, among other aspects really turned me off. Also, usually movies that glorify or portray behavior/lifestyles similar to those depicted in Pulp Fiction have characters that are normal human beings. In this movie, every character is either a murderer, a gangster, a drug dealer, someone with a drug problem, an accomplice to a crime, or a rapist. I just don't see the redeeming social value here.
If you like movies with quality acting, character development, any sort of plot, or a message that doesn't bash the Bible; chances are Pulp Fiction is not for you. The one thing that Tarentino got right was the title: Pulp Fiction; this movie is both "cheaply produced art" and "fake."