Director: Bob Koherr
Starring: Tommy Davidson, Julie Brown, Paul Dinello
Number 144 on the IMDB Bottom 250.
After a strong start and two good films in Movie 50/50, we arrive at the inevitable terrible film from the depths of the IMDB bottom 250. Now your eyes are not deceiving you, and no that isn’t a typo, there is indeed a film called “Plump” Fiction, and yes, it is exactly what you think it is! This is of course a parody of the 1994 classic, Pulp Fiction; that one of course ranks a lot higher, and in fact is number 7 on the IMDB top 250! Wowza!
That should give you a fair indication of how terrible this film is, but we’ll get to that! With my reviewer hat very firmly on, I was absolutely determined to find something good about this film, and there are a couple surprisingly, but don’t hold your breath, they in no way make this film worth watching!
It opens with a prologue in which the narrator tells us that this film will be an altogether more wholesome affair than Pulp Fiction, and then we hear the sound of gunshots stopping the narrator in his tracks. This made me chuckle. Nothing more than a chuckle though!
There is also quite a funny running gag about a guy rushing to get a script to a director. After getting hit by a car, he drops all of the pages, and as he picks them up he realises there are “no page numbers!”. There are various other mishaps in the movie that lead to the pages getting more and more mixed up; this is a great reference to the nonlinear nature of Pulp Fiction’s plot. For a film which tries to get most of its cheap laughs from fat jokes, this was surprisingly clever, and a knowing nod which I appreciated.
Of course the best thing about this film is that it is 1 hour and 12 minutes shorter than Pulp Fiction, so whilst the pain is unbearable, it is over very quickly! It also really made me want to watch Pulp Fiction in order to cleanse myself; an altogether more enjoyable experience.
This film ruins pretty much everything you know and love about Pulp Fiction. From the iconic opening scene, the diner dance scene, the unforgettable characters and dialogue, John Travolta’s ponytail, everything is ruined and pastiched to the point where it is not referential but simply downright offensive. Not content with taking a giant dump all over the Tarantino classic, it also shamelessly parodies a whole host of 90s films. None of the references are good and they are certainly not clever. Reservoir Dogs, Sister Act, Forrest Gump and Natural Born Killers are just some of the films that are spoofed. Now, I understand this film is a very obvious parody, however in trying to pack in a reference to most of the films made in the 1990s, the plot is an absolute mess. I might have actually preferred a direct spoof of Pulp Fiction rather than chucking in all these other films. I mean, it probably would still have been terrible but you never know!
Easily the worst thing about this film is the character of Mimi Hungry (Julie Brown), a parodied version of Uma Thurman’s Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction. Now if the name “Mimi Hungry” doesn’t already give you an indication what this character is like, then let me tell you. When she is introduced, the film takes an offensive turn for the worse as we’re given a barrage of increasingly unfunny “fat” jokes and references to her size. Eugh. They’ve essentially given her an eating problem instead of the drug problem that Mia had, and it is so incredibly offensive, it is actually a struggle to express this without using a ton of expletives!
I completely zoned in and out of watching this film, and despite the fact it is a very breezy 82 minutes long, it was absolutely torturous. If you’re reading this and thinking “oh this sounds like a good time”, or “doesn’t sound so bad”, PLEASE I implore you, do not watch this film. Watch paint dry instead, or a candle burn, or someone play a video game on “god mode”. All of these things will enhance your life more and prove an ultimately more satisfying experience than watching this godawful movie shamelessly ruin all the other movies you know and love. Avoid. Avoid like the plague.
Have you been unfortunate enough to watch this film? Let me know in the comments below.
Next month…
I flipped a coin, and it was a heads (HOORAY!) which means I get to watch a (hopefully) good film. I randomly generated number 59, so the film I will be watching is Django Unchained. Remember you can get involved and watch the film as well, tweet me your thoughts using the hashtag #Movie5050. Don’t forget, new posts every Monday and Wednesday, plus the first and last Fridays of the month. Movie 50/50 will be back February 1st (January’s Movie 50/50 slot will feature my Best & Worst films of the year instead).
Sarah Saw a Movie 