Good, but overrated

Rating: 7/10 (27 August 2005)

This movie is the flagship for the smug, self-aware sarcasm that pervaded the 1990s. While it is entertaining in a starkly violent way (observe Vincent Vega and Jules's greater concern for the cleanliness of their car after blowing the head off of their backseat passenger or Tarantino's focus on the silly pettiness of Vega's argument with Keitel's character whilst trying to figure out what to do with a dead body), the film is dripping with gauche vanity and retro references to the point that THAT becomes the unspoken star of the film. Of course, this is typical fare for Tarantino, so it should come as no surprise (anyone seen Kill Bill?).
Bruce Willis's vignette is by far the best. Gritty realism (fight fixing, his crummy hotel room and neurotic girlfriend, his car-crash and fight with Marsellus Wallace) is combined with a clever and thoroughly unsuspected twist (stumbling into a homosexual, S&M rape, horror-scenario). This is where Tarantino is at his best; he just becomes a bit misguided when he focuses too much on sarcasm and quirky retro vanity rather than interesting, new storytelling.
7/10 JEM