Pulp Fiction
Labeled by many as the Greatest Movie Of The 90s (itās not, even by Tarantinoās standards) and as one of the Greatest Movies Of All Time that quickly took its place among respectable best film lists almost immediately. But a closer look indicates that the film (while still great) gets its classic status more from the impeccable dialogue and the sometimes subtle, sometimes bombastic performances from its many big name actors rather than from its story. Tarantinoās greatest gift comes from the way he effortlessly HUMANIZES what can best be described as a bunch of lowlife thugs and criminals, showing them to have the same thoughts, feelings, opinions, and insecurities as the rest of us. While not all are likable, almost everyone is fascinating to some degree, and the epic nature and length of the film allows them all to breathe and have us get to know them. At the top of the list is John Travoltaās Vincent Vega, a hitman who is not so much the main character as he just basically exists throughout the film from start to finish, never wearing out his welcome even as he is shown to be an almost listless, passive, skeptical heroin junkie, affording to be able to buy the good shit due to making a lot of money at being a professional criminal but yet winning the viewer over with an almost quixotic view of the world around him and the life that he leads. Matching him much of the way is Samuel L. Jacksonās Jules Winnfield, in what is in many ways his signature role that he has never topped, that of a foulmouthed, mega badass fellow hitman with a thing for spouting Bible verses when popping a cap in an unlucky victim. The interesting thing is that while arguably more people came away praising Jacksonās performance over Travoltaās, the fact that Travolta had the slightly larger amount of screen time resulted in Travolta getting the Oscar nom for Best Lead Actor while Jackson got Supporting Actor (in what turned out to be one of the hottest Supporting races ever that year). The film is structured as three separate āstoriesā (complete with title cards) which in essence allow us to get to know these people until the near surprise waiting for us at the end of the third story where the movie becomes āabout somethingā, that being redemption for a life of crime and killing, although the middle story can be said to be about the benefits of having and maintaining a code of honor not really among criminals but among men of at least some common decency. This doesnāt change the fact that many of the actors here achieved their career best even in smaller roles. Bruce Willis absolutely hits it out of the park as an aging boxer paid off to throw a fight, before double crossing his master and then being thrown into maybe the craziest situation in movie history, arguably the reason why the second story is the overall best part of the film. Ving Rhames went from being an unknown to an overnight star as crime boss Marcellus Wallace, maintaining his aura successfully throughout the film even after suffering a horrible indignity during his encounter with Willis. Eric Stoltz and Rosanna Arquette completely disappear into their roles as a drug dealer husband and wife faced with an unimaginable situation for any drug dealer in their own home. Uma Thurman scored an Oscar Nom for Supporting Actress as Wallaceās obvious trophy wife who is a fiendish drug user and all around troublemaker who goes out for the night with Vincent when her husband is out of town at his behest to keep her from being bored, making interesting conversation with the uncomfortable Vincent along with outright flirting with him attempting to get him to make a move. Christopher Walken contributes a near legendary cameo and is given a gob of dialogue that has to be heard to be believed. Angela Jones (who shockingly never became a big star even though sheās the most attractive female in the film) plays a cab driver obsessed with death who ferries a major character around during a crucial point in the film. Peter Greene wins the honors for scariest turn in the short but effective part of Zed, a security guard who is also a hillbilly rapist killer. Tarantino himself scores big points as the civilian friend of Jules who gets a most unwelcome visit when Jules and Vincent need a quick place to hole up. Harvey Keitel waltzes into the film as a professional problem solver for the mob, kicks ass, then waltzes off. And Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer are the key players in the final scene of the film, a fly by night pair of stickup artists who get a quick lession in what a true badass is about by Jackson, only to discover that Jackson instead prefers to use them as a means to start his path to redemption and a better life, with his closing speech being one of the greatest in cinema history as a career criminal and killer comes to terms with his sins and begins to make his peace with God, a point which in and of itself is a gutsy one by Tarantino, that nonetheless succeeded in making the movie be thought of as a universal classic, even if much of the prior story (or stories) was mainly filler to flesh out the characters and / or to show off bizarre locations such as the fictional restaurant JackRabbit Slimās, where all of the waitstaff are celebrity impersonators. It all adds up to a fascinating concoction, even as some characters are more likable than others while others donāt get enough screen time, this is still Tarantino at the peak of his powers, even if this viewer doesnāt rate it as high as others do, it still shows him with the added clout and respect and doing exactly what he wanted to do after Reservoir Dogs while embarking on a career that is hopefully far from over. In the end, a film whose classic status was stamped on immediately after its release, and still remains an untouchable milestone for many of the top name actors involvedā¦
10/10