"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I break your concentration?"

Rating: 10/10 (13 February 2005)

There's just something about Pulp Fiction that makes it great. It took me a while to figure it out, but I think I found it. This may sound weird, but I think that it's the upbeat message found deep within the movie. What is so upbeat about a story involving 2 hit men (Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta) who kill at 4 people during the course of the movie, a crooked boxer who promises to take a dive (Bruce Willis), and a drug pusher (Writer/Director/Average-at-best Actor Quentin Tarantino)? It's not what they do, but how they come to their decisions, the major decisions that they make during the movie that a hopeful vibe comes about. Take the characters Vincent (Travolta, in an Oscar nominated role) and Jules (Jackson) as two under-armed hit men. After the two whack 3 rookie drug dealers, then accidentally shoot their inside man, each goes off their own way and "save" someone, both metaphorically and physically, and in doing so, are saved themselves, again both in the physical and metaphoric sense of being saved. The aspect of Pulp Fiction most remember is the script. Things are said by Tarantino's characters that had not been said in movies in years. What would normally be cut out by antsy editors are left in here to give the characters depth, add humor to the movie, and gives the audience something to remember. Who forgets the first scene of the movie after the opening credits, where Vincent and Jules discuss hamburgers in Europe. Or the Bible verse sermonized by Jules before he goes through with business. And of course, the music selections made by Tarantino are almost as important as the script or the actors. It is said that Quentin will pick the music for his movies before he writes the script, it is that important to him, and he uses this extra "character" in the movie pitch-perfect. The opening credits employ the use of "Miserlou," which has become synonymous with Tarantino and features songs from the 60s and 70s to add more depth to each character. We know the Jules is a funk fan, as he chooses to play "Jungle Boogie" in his car, and that Mia (Uma Thurman) is adding an undertone of sexuality by playing "Girl, You'll Be A Woman Soon" while entertaining Vincent. This scene comes after "Son of a Preacher Man" welcomes Vincent into her home before the big date at the 60s restaurant where we get to see Mr. Saturday Night Fever dance again. The lure to Pulp Fiction comes from the sum of the parts. The acting is great, humor comes from unexpected places, notably in the final act with Harvey Keitel's man who cleans up problems, and the music all add up to a good movie. The underlying sense of hope is what gives Pulp Fiction it's stature as one of the great movies of the 1990s.