Be Cool, Honey Bunny

These two small-time crooks open and close the show, tying the narrative together, even though they don’t make appearances anywhere in between. This Bonnie and Clyde duo have been living the life of hardened criminals, minus the hardened part because they’re just holding up liquor stores and taking people’s wallets.

The diner in the opening of Pulp Fiction was shot in Los Angeles’ Hawthorne Grille, which was demolished shortly after the movie wrapped. In the film’s first scene, two robbers, Pumpkin and Honey Bunny, portrayed by Tim Roth and Amanda Plummer, drink coffee and discuss robbing the restaurant.

When they’re not committing armed robbery, they’re very lovey-dovey. Tarantino portrays them as pretty ridiculous. Ringo decides that robbing liquor stores isn’t profitable enough for the amount of effort, and has absolutely no problem with a more efficient type of robbery like holding up a bank or, say, a diner. You know Yolanda is down because, well, she’s a bit crazy, and she’ll do anything Ringo says. She really worries us with that gun.

When Ringo gets disarmed by Jules (in a dope Krazy Kat shirt, no less), Yolanda sort of loses it and just barely keeps her cool. Thanks to Jules, both characters quickly switch from being the hunters to the hunted. Also thanks to Jules and his recent epiphany, they collect the customers’ wallets and leave the diner a little disoriented but alive. They don’t know what hit them, but they’ll take it. Jules has blown their minds, and they’ve unwittingly given him the opportunity to test out his new approach to life. H/T>