With Jim Sabatini

Pulp Fiction

Rated: R for violence.
Reviewed by: Frank
Release date: October 14, 1994	Released by: Miramax

Director Quentin Tarantino presents a violent and verbally vulgar film based on the cheap 10 cent paper detective novels of the 30s and 40s of the same name. He weaves three stories together, one with Vincent Vega (John Travolta) and Mia (Uma Thurman). Travolta's character is assigned to take the wife of his gangland boss to dinner and be sure nothing else happens. The boss' wife nearly overdoses on Travolta's drug mix and creates a serious problem for the lowly hired gun. Bruce Willis plays a boxer named Butch Coolidge, who double crosses Travolta's boss by winning a fight he was told to lose and betting against the mob. The last segment is about Vega and Jules (Samuel Jackson) who are sent to kill a young man who rubbed the feet of Mia.

If this sounds too long and confusing, it is. The film is two and a half hours long and tedious to watch. But the overlapping of characters from one story to another is clever and interesting.

This is above all a very black comedy, far darker than Prizzi's Honor. The comedy is built around the accidental shooting in the head of a young captive of Jules and Vincent, the forced anal sex on Marsellus (the underworld boss), and the near death of Mia as she bleeds from the nose and expels white foam from her mouth.

Jackson has the best part and handles it very well. His dialogue, however, is so filled with vulgar pronouncements they become irritating to listen to. Travolta, looking plump and silly, has a good role in contrast with his previous work; he displays a range of acting broader than his past endeavors.

The twisted script is well structured but the film is not enjoyable to watch. I couldn't wait for it to end so I could get an aspirin for the headache it caused.