An undeniably great movie

Rating: 10/10 (3 September 2006)

How Quentin Tarantino managed to pull this off is a mystery. Where he got these characters from is even more of a mystery. This movie is a celebration of all things trashy, and yet I got the feeling that when Tarantino started making this movie he realized he could make it so much more than that. He has a gold mine of character and dialogue here, and he has used it up and more.
The best thing about this movie is its dialogue. Everything everyone says is so natural; you believe someone would say these things in real life. Every conversation is essential to the plot, but when they take place they feel spontaneous. Even sequences that would feel contrived under a lesser screenplay or lesser director feel perfect in this movie, such as the scene between Willis and the cabdriver, or the scene with Uma Thurman and John Travolta dancing at the restaurant.
Not only are conversations natural, but the way events shape out feels like real life also. When we are expecting Mia and Vince to get on the good foot and do the bad thing, what we get instead is a crisis in which Mia almost dies. When we expect Butch to get killed, instead he does the killing. The movie felt like it was leading me in one direction but then led me in another, but I didn't feel gypped because it felt right.
And the actors are something else in this movie. John Travolta did not give the performance I expected from him- I expected hammy Travolta and what I got was understated Travolta that fit into everything around him; definitely not what I expected. Sam Jackson has the most fun in this movie, but manages to keep it real at the same time. I can't even get into everyone else, simply because there are so many good performances.
I gave the movie a 10 (something I've done for only three other movies) because it's so complete. I had trouble figuring out what the point of the movie is, and I'm still not sure, but it really doesn't matter. The stories are so intriguing and the characters are so engaging, I don't really care about the point of it all. I just want to see it again.