Be Cool

Everytime I watch Pulp Fiction, I'm immensely fond of a two minute tracking shot expertly directed by a still rookie Quentin Tarantino, as we follow Vincent Vega (John Travolta) around the 50's nostalgic diner of Jack Rabbit Slims with some amusement as he suggests some genuine recognition to the sights around him. Elvis signing on stage, Doris Day talking to customers, Marilyn Monroe serving drinks, a red car that looks suspiciously like Grease Lightning.

When watching this scene you have to remember that in the early 90's, Travolta was at the lowest point of his Hollywood career (yes even lower than 2003's monumental failure Battlefield Earth). The effect of the 1980's on him when he said "No" to things he should have never said "No" to (An Officer and a Gentlemen, Fatal Attraction) and "Yes" to thinks he should have ran a mile away from (Two of a Kind, Perfect, an ill informed sequel to Saturday Night Fever directed by Sly Stallone), had left him unmarketable and disjointed with Hollywood. He decided to give up the job entirely at one point to take up flying. Just about the only movie he could be bothered to make in the years before he met Quentin for Pulp Fiction were in the Looking Who's Talking series, where he only needed to provide a voice in a small studio. His disgust at the industry wouldn't have to be seen on camera. Of course Pulp Fiction changed all that, and Travolta has never looked back since. But he will never get a better tribute to him than in this scene, and it's almost these few minutes alone that won him roles in Broken Arrow, Face/Off and Get Shorty immediately after 1994. What Tarantino did so well with this scene is remind us of where Travolta came from and how Hollywood had so forgotten what a great star of pulp culture he really was. Travolta, the leading man of the 50's set musical Grease, the biggest movie on the planet at the time of it's release but had been wrongly type-cast by those in power who thought he was a one trick pony. Here, Tarantino is almost saying to the audience, "Oh yeah, I remember you... I remember this", at the same time as Travolta on screen is having the same kind of flashback to a moment in time when he was a pop culture hero. And that's what the famous dance is about...

Just another glimpse at Travolta's past life and reminded us that he was cool at this once, and he can be cool at this again. And whether you liked his fat suit female performance in Hairspray or his recent phone-in bad guy roles in Swordfish and The Punisher, there is still something very cool about Travolta to this day and I really hope The Taking of Pelham 123 and From Paris With Love can tap into that again.