Performance Review: Samuel L. Jackson in "Pulp Fiction" (1994)

I thought I'd do another performance review, and this time my readers, I give you what is probably my favorite Supporting Actor performance (though he has some competition). I give you the indelible ferociousness of....

 

...Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction (1994)

Sam Jackson plays Jules Winnfield, a philisophical hit man who, with his bud Vincent (John Travolta, layering subtlety and nuance into the role with great results) are on their way to work and to "take care of his boss' dirty laundry". 

This "dirty-laundry" comes in the form of literally scaring the shit out of three college kids, as way of pay back for taking their boss' mysterious glowing briefcase.

Jules is a man who represents a high sense of righteousness and has a way of looking at the world in a way he believes is spiritually truthful and acceptable. He lives a life where he kills people for a living, and before each kill, preaches a Biblical quote which he believes is some "cold-blooded shit to say" before he unleashes his almighty power on the unfortunate soul who reside under his ominous shadow.

Jackson delivers this passage with the agression and fury of a pissed off pitbull, and his voice and body throbbing with intense, untamed emotion.

Jackson's Jules dissapears for a good chunk of the movie, but because of the genius non-linear plot structure, we return to him in the same position we last found him in later on. When we are rejoined with him, Jules experiences something incredible; he has felt the touch of God.

After not getting pelted with huge bullets aimed directly at him, and squarely miss him, Jules knows that this wasn't just luck, but Divine Intervention where God came down to him and saved his life. While Vincent blows off such an idea, Jules sticks with it. *The image above where Jackson pauses and takes the miracle in is startlingly hypnotic.

Jules' life altering experience leads him down a new pathway of life, a life where he decides to retire from his job as a hit man for life. This is where Jules' character arc begins to take shape, and Jackson projects this change with a sincere curiosity, wherein he doesn't give to much and wisely underplays this conflicting ambiguity.

As Jules begins to ponder this happening bestowed on him, a certain "gun malfunction" sends him and his main man into a whirlwind of trouble. This unexpected surprise (perfectly executed and timed for the greatest comedic effects possible) also infuses the character of Jules with humor. Jackson is a master with Tarantino's sharp, brilliant dialouge and his comic timing combined mixed with some hilarious line readings ("I used the same fuckin' soap you did, but my towel didn't look like no Goddamn maxi pad!") not only make the character a riot to watch, but somehow, deepens the character.

  Jules' frustration towards Vincent comes in the form of him almost acting as his parent and scolding him for his juvenile behavior. For example, the two bicker back and forth about what is right and wrong; Jules treats his friend (Jimmy) with respect when he is in need of help, while Vincent (in a previous chapter) was rude and disrespectful towards his friend in his time of need. We realize that Jules is one step ahead of Vincent in the long run, and in their hilarious verbal jousting, Jackson subtlely conveys two things; that Jules' anger is more motivated by the fact that Vincent can't understand his reasoning as he makes his spiritual transition and that the two characters who were tight with each other in the beginning are now losing their bond. Jackson shows us Jules' anxiety about being "held back" by Vincent, and unable to achieve his own path.

This next sequence (the finale) is a real doozie, and its all thanks to Jackson's trascendent playing. While at a diner after all the comotion, Jules quietly explains to Vincent that he will now "Walk The Earth" and that God will guide him to his true place of being. He owes God his life and now he will repay him. But, soon begins a robbery at the diner around Jules, and he is eventually held at gun point when he refuses to hand over his boss' briefcase.

However, the tables turn...

...and Jules has the the cheap thug under his gun point.

With God's miracle swirling through mind and soul, Jules decides to help this lost and confused man instead of blowing his brains out. This touch from above opens up Jules in a way he never thought possible, and now this is his first act of redemption. 

Jules recites the Biblical passage to Ringo, but does so in a manner in which he now longer thinks of it as just "something cool", but rather something deeper, something much more meaningful. This passage helps Jules explain the situation he's in, where he no longer wants to live a negative, demeaning life killing people, but desires a life of fufilling meaning and value. Jackson taps into something so deep and emotionally truthful here that it literally gives me goosebumps. He conveys the integrity, hope, and awakening now running through Jules. He almost comes fully alive in a way he never had. And those line readings. Man, oh man those line readings. Every word dripping with the sheer esscence of the character searing inner life; of a man trying simply to make good and turn himself around.

Jules' arc shows a human being who's entire character changes as he has discovered a beaming bright path of redemption to which he follow forever. Jackson's performance is not only in total service to the character with an intense emotional core but to the film, as Jackson's Jules emerges as not only the heart and soul of Pulp Fiction, but as its moral and emotional compass. His earth-shaking work in the role holds the entire film together and much, much, much of the film's overall effectiveness and resonance resides on his shoulders.

Easily my pick as Best Supporting Actor of 1994, and although Landau's performance as the tragicomic Bela Lugosi is astonoshing in its own right, no one's touching this bad motherfucker.