Too cool - literally

Rating: 6/10 (9 May 2002)

I have my problems with this movie and the enormous hype it created. First of all, let´s clarify some things: Yes, it has excellent acting and directing; the dialogues are superbly written and often hilarious; the music is... well, you know, especially if you were in college in the late nineties; it has many clever and (relatively) original storylines.
Still, my biggest problem is exactly what´s supposed to be the movie´s greatest asset: the atmosphere it creates. So many critics mention the violence, and the argument of the fans is always: there´s not so much violence in there, other movies have way more and way harder violence. Well, it´s neither the quantity nor the viciousness that bother me. It´s the fact that violence is really, really cool in this movie. Pulp Fiction made violence and murder to mainstream coolness. Many great films have cynically shown bare violence and thus made their points about society, relationships, human nature etc. In this case, there´s no point to be made - and please, I don´t just mean a moral point. The PF characters are neither good nor bad, neither tragic nor pitiful, they´re barely human. All they are is cool. Cool caricatures. And that´s just not enough for me in order to be really moved by a movie.
PF had a perfect timing, as mentioned in another recent review. However, I sincerely hope it won´t be viewed upon as the ultimate nineties icon in the future - the nineties weren´t just about senseless violence and cool comments; there was much more, and it was way better.