Main Cast: Tommy Davidson, Julie Brown, Paul Dinello, Sandra Bernhard, Dan Castellaneta
Release Year: 1998
Country: US
Run Time: 82 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Bob Koherr directed this predictable parody of Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction, offering variations on the film's familiar scenes, plus satirical jabs at other titles, including Reservoir Dogs, Natural Born Killers, Forrest Gump and Nell. Tarantino's hit men are replaced here with exterminators Jimmy (Paul Dinello) and Julius (Tommy Davidson). Subbing for Marsellus and coke addict Mia are compulsive eater Mimi (Julie Brown) and her husband Montello (Robert Costanzo). Instead of coffee-shop thieves Honey Bunny and Pumpkin, writer wannabe Bunny Roberts (Sandra Bernhard) arrives with the Forrest Gump-like Bumpkin (Dan Castellaneta). Psychos Nicky (Matthew Glave) and Vallory (Pamela Segall) disrupt the criss-crossing storylines, and so do nuns with guns. At the Independent Cafe, employees are costumed like various characters from independent films. The talented Juliette Lewis is mocked by Pamela Segall in a re-creation of a Natural Born Killers scene, and Kane Picoy impersonates Christopher Walken. When Plump Fiction played theatrically, it was accompanied by a three-minute short film Swing Blade (a spoof of Swingers and Sling Blade). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
Robert LaLiberte - Art Director, Patrick J. Clifton - Associate Producer, Gary Oberst - Casting, Mark Roberts - Co-producer, Lorena David - Co-producer, Vincent Lapper - Costume Designer, Gregory Allen Webb - First Assistant Director, Bob Koherr - Director, Neil Kirk - Editor, Stephen Nemeth - Executive Producer, Jacques Herbert - Production Designer, Rex Nicholson - Cinematographer, Gary Binkow - Producer, Nicole Lee - Set Designer, Eric Enroth - Sound/Sound Designer, Bob Koherr - Screenwriter
At the start of the movie, the voice of Don LaFontaine talks about how Tarantino started a trend of extremely violent movies, and says that the time has come for much more wholesome, life-affirming movies — and he's cut off as someone shoots him.
The body of the film contains the following intertwined plotlines:
Jimmy Nova and Julius are two exterminators, required to dress as hitmen; they work for Montello, who also owns a strip club. Jimmy is assigned by Montello to look after his wife, Mimi, while he's out of town; her over-eating and wild behavior get herself and Jimmy into one mess after another, including being imprisoned by a convenience store owner and his pet "gimp" Nell. Jimmy and Mimi eventually drive off to Mexico together.
Some of Montello's strippers concoct a plan to steal Montello's money; they disguise themselves as nuns and use fake names, including Sister Sister, Sister Sledge, and Sister Bertrille. The plan goes awry, and one of the nuns is wounded. As trust between the criminals breaks down, they all draw weapons on each other (including a blowtorch and a crossbow), but suddenly they're all gunned down by film director Crispin Maraschino, who's making a movie in the next room and doesn't want to be disturbed.
Nicky and Vallory Cox, a pair of tag-team wrestlers called the Natural Blonde Killers, blame their lot on a terrible movie made about them by Gulliver Stone. They steal a seemingly valuable briefcase from Montello and go into hiding; while on the run, Nicky accidentally leaves the briefcase in a booth at The Independent Cafe, a theme restaurant whose theme is independent films. The two of them go back to retrieve it, and find themselves in a showdown with Julius (whom they'd encountered earlier). The contents of the briefcase turn out to be an old Welcome Back, Kotterlunch box and several orange glow sticks. The Coxes both wind up shot by Julius.
Bunny Roberts has written a violent film that Crispin Maraschino is directing, but he doesn't have a copy of the script; she sends her friend Bumpkin to deliver her last copy to Maraschino. As Bumpkin runs to the studio, he occasionally bumps into the other characters, each time dropping the script pages and having to pick them up again. When he finally gets to the studio, the script is a convoluted mess, and Maraschino loves it; the title is revealed to be Plump Fiction. Bunny, meanwhile, winds up dead in the showdown between Julius and the Coxes.
After the credits, a server at the Independent Cafe (who calls himself Priscilla, Queen of the Desserts) looks into the camera and says, "This has been one long, mixed-up, crazy, out-of-sequence kind of day!"
One of the things being satirized in this film is the way well-known songs are used in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs; the theme is an electric-guitar instrumental of Hava Nagila, Jimmy and Mimi dance at the Cafe to the tune of Gitarzan, et cetera.
Steve Buscemi makes a brief cameo appearance as a waiter in the Independent Cafe, dressed as his character from Reservoir Dogs; he appears just long enough to put two glasses of water and a basket of bread on Jimmy & Mimi's table.
Poster
The poster for this movie is a parody of the Pulp Fiction poster:
In the Pulp poster, Mia has a gun in one hand and is resting the other on a pulp magazine; in the Plump poster, Mimi is holding a lollipop in one hand and resting the other on a copy of The Joy of Cooking.
