Pulp Fiction

01though not always easy to watch - and even harder at times to sympathize with - Quenton Tarantino's film, "Pulp Fiction' is a highly compelling motion picture. Three interlocking stories whose shifts in time and narrative make it a fascinating post-modern faux-noir, Tarantino's Palm d'Or surprise winner at this year's Carines Film Festival has all the makings of a long-term cult classic. The movie's most compelling character is Samuel L. Jackson's incredulous hitman, Jules. This bible-quoting hired killer, and his fellow lug, Vincent (John Travolta), must retrieve a mysterious briefcase belonging to their gangland boss that keeps getting lifted. Vincent must also contend with squiring the bosses' vixen, Mia (Uma Thurman) in the film's loopy first episode, "Vincent Vega and Marsellus Wallace's Wife." Meanwhile, mob-influenced boxer, Butch (Bruce Willis), must somehow survive a fixed fight he inadvertently unfixed in "The Gold Watch." And finally, two remarkable twists of life and (mostly) death(s) go a long way towards persuading Jules that he's got to give up his stressful profession in the concluding episode, "The Bonnie Situation." There's a maniacally energetic glee to "Pulp Fiction." When it seems Tarantino can't top himseif in this film; he does it again - and again.