Pulp Fiction: An Overrated Film

I am a huge Quentin Tarantino fan. In fact, my favorite films of all time are Kill Bill Vol.1 and Kill Bill Vol. 2 (can’t wait for Vol. 3). I loved Reservoir Dogs, True Romance and all of the other films that Tarantino has worked on, except for one. While I don’t hate Pulp Fiction, I don’t love it either.

The film tells the story of seemingly unrelated characters whose lives are tied together through a series of events. The film starts out by telling the story of two hit men, Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) and Vincent Vega (John Travolta), who are out to retrieve a suitcase stolen from their employer, mob boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). In addition to retrieving this suitcase, Wallace has also asked Vincent to take his wife Mia (Uma Thurman) out on a date to keep her entertained while he is out of town. Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) is an aging boxer who is paid by Wallace to lose his next fight. He, however, wins and flees town with his girlfriend Fabienne (Maria de Medeiros). The film concludes and begins with two thieves named Pumpkin (Tim Roth) and Honey Bunny (Amanda Plummer) who are eating at a diner and decide to rob it.

I have seen this film three times and still don’t understand why it’s as popular as it is.

First of all, I find Butch’s girlfriend, Fabienne, to be extremely irritating. The character should have more of a backbone if she’s going to be with a man who may have to flee for his life at any moment, fights for a living, and works for a mob boss. Instead, the second Butch raises his voice to her, she acts like a child and starts to cry. In addition, I find it frustrating that she is always asking so many questions. She has no backbone and is unsure of everything. You would think she’d be terrified every second she’s with Butch Coolidge if she’s so unsure of everything. Finally, I don’t understand the significance of her desire to have a, “potbelly.” No female wishes to have the equivalent of a beer belly. No woman wishes to be fat. It just doesn’t make any sense.

Second, I don’t understand why the audience isn’t shown the interior of the suitcase that Marsellus wants so badly. There is so much build-up to what’s inside this suitcase (people are shot, men risk their lives in order to get it, etc.,) and when it’s finally shown, all we see is it being opened and a gold light shinning from inside the suitcase. Is there gold in it? If it’s so important, why not show it to us?

Finally, I have to say I don’t find the overall plot that interesting. In fact, I find it a bit boring. It’s very dialogue heavy and, while I appreciate the dialogue in Reservoir Dogs, I don’t really appreciate it in this film. I don’t find it as clever. Actually, I find it a little silly. For example, when Vincent and Mia go out to dinner there is hardly any conversation between the two of them because they don’t know each other very well. This is made very apparent, especially when Mia points it out when she says, “Don’t you hate that?…Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it’s necessary to yack about bull**** in order to be comfortable?”

As previously mentioned, I don’t hate this film, I just don’t love it. I love Quentin Tarantino and his creative genius and I can appreciate the order in which the story is told. It’s very hard to tell a story out of order and have it all come together in the end successfully. Also, I do find the scene where Mia overdoses very suspenseful. This is about all the film does for me, however. If there is anyone who can explain to me why Pulp Fiction is such a cult classic, and wants to try to change my opinion, be my guest.