Interesting movie, but hardly a 'classic'

Rating: 4/10 (24 January 2000)

PULP FICTION
Aspect ratio: 2.39:1 (Panavision)
Sound format: Dolby Stereo SR
Great dialogue counts for much in Quentin Tarantino's highly acclaimed PULP FICTION, but the film suffers at times from a surfeit of unnecessary chatter. None of the main characters are particularly likable, but Tarantino's script is eventful and forthright, and he manages to juggle the disparate elements of humor and horror with consummate ease. Harvey Keitel steals the film in a cameo appearance that doesn't actually require him to *do* very much, but he does it beautifully anyway; Maria de Medeiros is sweetness itself in another cameo as Bruce Willis' girlfriend; and Samuel L. Jackson dominates the screen in a disturbing sequence where he and John Travolta confront some thieving young punks (led by Frank Whaley) in a run-down apartment. Best scene: a 'hilarious' gunshot decapitation and its grisly aftermath.