Simply a Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (20 March 2013)

A movie in which really has no main characters, a crazy plot, and insane dialogue. That is basically what sums up Pulp Fiction. Quentin Tarantino wasn't really known before Pulp Fiction, but after this movie he became one of the best directors in recent memory. I can't even tell you what the movie is about. Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, and Bruce Willis all have their stories and they all somehow intertwine, that's really it. The plot makes no sense and the entire movie is confusing from the opening to ending credits. After the credits roll your mind starts piecing together and then you will realize that this movie is unique and brilliant.
From the first scene of the movie I was hooked. The audience is introduced to Pulp Fiction in the middle of a conversation at a diner. Honey Bunny and Pumpkin are talking and my attention was drawn to my TV. I intended on multitasking on the internet while watching but instantly I was drawn into their conversation. I recognized Tim Roth from Lie to Me and was curious what he was doing in this movie. The entire scene was just brilliant starting with a simple conversation and ending with a robbery of the diner. Then it was the next scene. I put the laptop down because I knew this movie deserved my full attention. Pulp Fiction is simply classic Tarantino. The original story, similar actors, creative dialogue, and an amazing score push the story along and make it what it is. Other than Travolta, there really is no "main character". I consider the script and the words the characters say as a character. If you break the movie down, very little actually happens. Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson have a solid 10-15 minute conversation about cheeseburgers and a foot massage. I don't know how they did it but they made a conversation about a foot massage very entertaining. A script like Pulp Fiction's does not come around lightly. This was one of the most interesting and captivating screenplays I have ever seen on film. There is not one boring scene in this movie because of the interesting conversations. This movie has a very long list of big actors, my favorite being Christopher Walken. He is only in the movie for one scene, but it is my favorite scene. Young Butch is watching TV and incomes Walken playing his father's POW friend. His father fought and died in the war and Walken had something to give him. Walken goes on a speech about a gold watch his father and himself hid from the Vietnamese. The delivery and presentation in this scene is hysterical. The camera never moves, all we see is Walken holding the watch and telling his story. It is a scene like this where you feel the words and their impact. I will say it all throughout this review; the words are what make this movie. As far as plot, there really is none. There are stories of individuals whose lives intertwine. What makes this movie special is that the scenes are out of order. I loved that it had this effect. The movie starts in the diner and then we never see them again, until the end. It's brilliant. After the movie I took a piece of paper and drew out the Pulp Fiction timeline. If a movie makes you think then it does its job, but this went above and beyond. I wanted to re-watch the movie in the correct sequence, but honestly, if I did, the movie is awful. If this movie was in the order of events it would be pointless and meaningless. It would be a ridiculous movie with weird dialogue. Instead, the audience is left wondering what is going on and we get sucked into the universe that is, Quentin Tarantino. Do I like that the movie is out of order? Well, yes and no. My really only problem is that all of the actors are seen once and most of them are never seen again. In the first opening scenes Samuel L. Jackson was so entertaining but then he left and we don t see him again for a very long time. The movie skips ahead to Travolta and Uma Thurman's night on the town. I missed seeing Samuel L. Jackson on screen. Then we get sucked into Bruce Willis' story and I missed Travolta and Uma Thurman, but I was so interested with Bruce Willis, I didn't even care. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I loved these characters and wanted to see all of them at once, which I realize isn't possible. I wanted them to have more interaction with each other, but then again, that would have probably made the movie a lot worse. Another problem with the scene jumping is the irrelevance of events. Once scene one character gets blown away and killed by another. At that time it was a huge deal because one of the characters died, but in the next sequence he was alive again walking around being awesome. It took away from his death and almost made it pointless. If you pay attention towards the end we see why he dies but it almost seemed unnecessary and random that he died. Tarantino made this movie not intending to make a sequel, but he never reveals what is in the briefcase that Jules carries around. Why not? What is in it? I want to know. Overall, Pulp Fiction was a masterpiece of writing. The screenplay and how the actors acted out the words on the page is what made this movie a classic. I didn't want to see this movie because people said it deserved Best Picture over Forrest Gump in 1994. I didn't want to believe there was a better movie then that, but I liked this movie more. I think Forrest Gump deserved the Oscar but Pulp Fiction still gets the WillyT Seal of Approval.