Pulp Fiction. Be honest. You have all seen it. If not... WHY NOT??? Ok, ok. So, I will summarize for those who haven't seen it, or who haven't seen it for a long time. *deep breath and a good stiff drink*
Pulp Fiction is centered around three major plots. And Tarantino is kind enough to use title cards for each one. SO, I will be summarizing the movie based on these plots.
The movie actually starts with a prologue. A couple ("Honey Bunny" and "Pumpkin") hold up a dinner after discussing how holding up liquor stores is too risky. After that fun intro, we meet Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield. As they are driving, Vincent discusses with Jules
the quirks of Europe. Jules and Vincent arrive at their destination, a hit for gangster boss Marsellus Wallace. The establishing framework for Vincent and Jules as hit men being established, we have our first title card:
Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife
This story actually starts with Butch, a middle aged boxer, striking a deal with Marsellus Wallace to throw a fight. Vincent and Jules walk in (wearing athletic shorts and t shirts) and talk about Vincent taking Marsellus's wife out. Vincent cleans up and visits his drug dealer and buys some heroin and shoots up before his "date." Vincent and Mia (Mrs. Wallace) go to have dinner at
Jack Rabbit Slim's, a 50's themed restaurant. Over dinner, Mia talks about her acting job in a pilot for a doomed TV series, "Fox Force Five," and has a five dollar shake. They participate in a
twist contest and win the trophy. Through the evening, Vincent finds that he really is very attracted to Mia. While Vincent is talking himself down in the bathroom, Mia finds his stash in his coat pocket and snorts a long line of the heroin. When Vincent finds her, she is in a comatose state from overdosing. He rushes her over to his dealer's house to save her (you know, to avoid the questions at the hospital). They save her by injecting her heart with
adrenaline. Vincent's "date" with Mia ends with them walking home together and awkwardly saying goodnight.
The next scene is a flash back to the late sixties/ early seventies. Young Butch is watching cartoons when a POW from the same camp that Butch's father died in delivers a
gold watch to young Butch. Butch snaps out of this memory in a locker room before his boxing match. He goes off to the fight. This brings us to our second title card:
The Gold Watch
A radio announcer narrates that Butch killed his opponent and Butch runs from the scene. Marsellus starts a huge manhunt for him. Butch returns to his girlfriend and begins following his plan to leave town. That is, until he discovers that his girlfriend has forgotten to pack his father's gold watch. Butch decides to go back and get it. He sneaks into his apartment, grabs his watch, but realizes that something is amiss. He finds a large gun on the kitchen counter and hears the toilet flush. He points the gun at the bathroom door, and comes face to face with Vincent. Butch kills him and then heads back to the hotel. On the trip back, he finds himself behind the wheel of a car and Marsellus Wallace in the crosswalk in front of him. He
runs him down. Both of the men recover at about the same time and Marsellus chases Butch on foot into a pawn shop. There they fight on the floor until the owner of the shop takes them captive at gun point. What happens next is a tribute to
Deliverance, I am sure. The owner calls his buddy and the two of them take Marsellus into a locked room and leave Butch under the watchful eye of "the Gimp." Butch manages to get himself loose and knocks out the Gimp and runs up the stairs to the pawn shop. He begins to run, but changes his mind. He
finds himself a weapon and returns to save Marsellus. After putting the hillbillies in a bad way, Marsellus tells Butch that he
no longer has a grudge and Butch should leave town. Butch does just that with quickness, taking Zed's motorcycle (I'm sorry,
"chopper").
This leads us to our third and last title card:
The Bonnie Situation
We come back to the apartment from the beginning. But, instead of the main action, we see another young man hiding in the bathroom holding a gun. He is working his courage up to burst out and kill Vincent and Jules. He hears Jules quoting the
Bible and then shooting his friend. He then jumps out and shoots at them, completely missing them. Vincent and Jules shoot him dead and take Marvin (the only one left alive) and leave. Jules is shaken up and calls it
divine intervention. In the car, Jules keeps discussing the idea that their being alive is a miracle. Vincent turns around and asks Marvin what he thinks, and in a freak accident,
shoots him in the face. They get off the road and park the car in Jules's partner's garage.
Jimmy is freaked out by this because his wife comes home from work soon and he needs them gone. Jules calls Marsellus for help and he sends them a clean up man named "
the Wolf." They get the car cleaned up and take it to a junk yard for disposal.
Jules and Vincent stop and have breakfast at a small dinner, still discussing Jules's belief of divine intervention. Vincent leaves the table, and (you guessed it) this is the diner from the beginning of the movie. The hold up begins. "Honey Bunny" and "Pumpkin" walk around collecting everyone's wallets, including Jules. On the rounds, the man ("Pumpkin" or "Ringo") wants to take Marsellus's case. Jules tells him he can't give him the case because it doesn't belong to him. He gives them all the money from his wallet and tells them that he's going to let them go. But first he breaks down his Bible verse,
struggling for what it all means. He lets the couple go, and Vincent and Jules walk away.
And that is the end of our movie.
Now I get to tell you my reaction. I remember watching this in the movie theaters when it came out. I was completely blown away. The non-sequential storytelling and the dialogue of this movie are just out of this world. I know that I linked a lot of scenes in the synopsis, but that was because I wanted to show just how unique the rhythm of the dialogue and the movement of the action really is. Tarantino has his own unique style, you can pick one of his movies out just by listening to it. It's sort of a quicker version of realistic dialogue. And Pulp Fiction is Tarantino's grand masterpiece that really solidified this and delivered it to the public.
The other thing that really marks the style of a Tarantino movie is the soundtrack. All the songs fit a certain theme (mostly). Pulp Fiction's was stylistically surfer music. Really laid back and fun. And completely contrasting the action on the screen most of the time. This adds to the unease that you feel while the really horrific violence happens. The soundtrack to that should be more heavy, not lighthearted and silly. But, in a weird way, the music really punctuates the key points.
I would also try to say something about the casting. This cast is perfect. I cannot see anyone else playing Jules, Vincent, Marsellus, Mia... Well... Any of them. Right down to the minor parts. This movie re-introduced us to John Travolta (for better or worse) and started the trend of Samuel L Jackson being in EVERYTHING. Ving Rhames is just scary as Marsellus. And I can just go on for days about all of this. Everyone just OWNS the dialogue and brings these over the top characters to life in a way that is just iconic in and of itself.
My only real beef with this movie is Tarantino's coffee speech. He seems really uneasy with one word in particular. See if you can pick it out (go ahead, the link is in the synopsis). Well, to be fair, I am uneasy with that same word. And maybe that was the point. It just sticks out to me because everything else is beautifully done.
In closing, I love this movie. I have always loved this movie. If you haven't seen it, I think it's time to do just that. Tarantino is so influential now. His style has been imitated throughout Hollywood and Pulp Fiction has everything that those other writers and directors want to capture.
Now... I think I will enjoy my Royal with Cheese and wash it down with a tasty beverage.
GGC
