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Pulp Fiction

A review of Tarantino’s genre-defining crime mosaic: nonlinear storytelling, pop culture monologues, and the violence of Los Angeles cool.

status: Draft
·
certainty: likely
·
importance: 6/10

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the shadow of death, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee."
— Jules Winnfield, Ezekial 25:17 (Heavily Altered)

Premise

Pulp Fiction

Poster of Pulp Fiction
Theatrical release poster
Directed byQuentin Tarantino
Screenplay byQuentin Tarantino, Roger Avary
Produced byLawrence Bender
Starring
  • John Travolta
  • Samuel L. Jackson
  • Uma Thurman
  • Bruce Willis
  • Ving Rhames
  • Harvey Keitel
  • Tim Roth
  • Amanda Plummer
  • Maria de Medeiros
CinematographyAndrzej Sekuła
Edited bySally Menke
Music byVarious Artists
Production companies
  • Miramax Films
  • A Band Apart
  • Jersey Films
Distributed by
  • Miramax Films
Release dateOctober 14, 1994 (United States)
Running time154 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$8–8.5 million
Box office$213.9 million

Set in the early to mid 1990s in Los Angeles, California. Hitmen Vincent Vega (John Tavolta), and Jules Winnfield (Samuel L. Jackson) work under crime lord Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames). Jules and Vincent pursue small time dealers that crossed Marsellus, followed by Vincent taking Marsellus's wife Mia Wallace for a night out, and Marsellus pursues boxer Butch (Bruce Willis) who double crossed him on a fixed boxing match. We witness 3 tightly correlated stories conveying themes of deliverance, divine justice, and the clash between miracle, and luck. While experiencing a amoral, cutthroat, lurid, and nihilistic crime-filled world first hand, Tarantino manages to create emotionally complex, With a [] non-linear timeline that culminates in

Rating

Critic Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (92%)

— Kris Yotam

Viewer Rating: ★★★★★★★★★☆ (92%)

— Kris Yotam

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Citation

Cited as:

Yotam, Kris. (Aug 2025). Pulp Fiction. krisyotam.com. https://krisyotam.com/reviews/film/pulp-fiction

Or

@article{yotam2025pulp-fiction,
  title   = "Pulp Fiction",
  author  = "Yotam, Kris",
  journal = "krisyotam.com",
  year    = "2025",
  month   = "Aug",
  url     = "https://krisyotam.com/reviews/film/pulp-fiction"
}