Stealing Pulp Fiction

Best buddies Jonathan (Jon Rudnitsky) and Steve (Karan Soni) sit in a diner at the start of business ideas at length. If this idiosyncratic dialogue isn’t a big enough clue that this flick aims to pay homage to Tarantino’s work, then the funky drive-in music that accompanies the opening titles will be. The pair are heading out to see a midnight screening of Pulp Fiction at their local cinema. When they learn that the print being screened belongs to the legendary filmmaker, they hatch a plan to steal it, recruiting their Tarantino-hating friend Elizabeth (Cazzie David) and down-on-his-luck therapist (Jason Alexander) to help.

Fully embracing its offbeat humour, Turkiewicz’s film is more Napoleon Dynamite than Reservoir Dogs, and it works. Rudnitsky and Soni are great together as the duo of lovable loser cinephiles who’ve got nothing better to do than hang out at a diner all day whenever they’re not at therapy. Jonathan is the hot-headed schemer who makes up for in confidence what he lacks in intelligence, whereas the slickly moustached Steve is a cross between Michael Cera and John Hader who’s all too happy to go along with his friend’s plans. David’s straight-faced sardonic wit bounces off her accomplices’ bromance wonderfully, and Alexander, while not given that much to do, brings a lot of fun to the role.

Despite Tarantino’s reputation for violence, there’s no ear-slicing or blood-splattered shootout to be found in Turkiewicz’s tribute to the filmmaker. Apart from one brief sequence towards the end, the references to his filmography are light-hearted gags and aesthetic choices (like dividing the film into chapters) that are in keeping with the rest of this feature’s style. Although Turkiewicz has crafted a hugely enjoyable heist movie, he doesn’t lean far enough into the Pulp Fiction director’s quirks to capture what makes his works so appealing. Moreover, a tangle of plot threads in the third act disrupts the otherwise tightly paced script before arriving at its feel-good conclusion.

Stealing Pulp Fiction doesn’t replicate the magic of the director it pays homage to, but it is a highly entertaining comedy outing by its own rights.

Andrew Murray

Stealing Pulp Fiction does not have a release date yet.

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