ScoobyWell Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

HotToastyRag Michael Caine plays a writer of pulp fiction novels in the European pseudo-mystery, pseudo-comedy pseudo-thriller Pulp. His books are full of sex and violence so risqué that the secretaries who are in charge of listening to his dictation get distracted by his sensational images. It's pretty silly, but not exactly funny enough to make you laugh. Then, a has-been movie star, played by Mickey Rooney, hires Michael to write his biography, and they become the target of a mysterious villainous group.If you like Michael Caine, you're not going to like this movie. Not only does he look very different than the dreamboat you'll be expecting to see, but Mike Hodges's script makes his character hard to root for. If you like Mickey Rooney, you'll be disappointed in this movie. He's only on screen for about twenty minutes.The sense of humor, sequence of events, and general style of filming felt just too European for me to like this film. It's quirky, and not my type of quirk, but you're welcome to give it a try if you like that kind of movie.

jotix100 Mickey King is a talented man who writes pulp fiction under several pseudonyms. As the film starts, he is living abroad, after abandoning his native Britain. He gave his latest novel to be transcribed from the tapes he dictated. The agency where the job is being done employs ladies who have a field day listening to the Mickey's narrative as they put Mickey's words into the written format.A change occurs, when the writer is contacted to ghost write a sort of biography by a man that once was a Hollywwod star, Preston Gilbert, whose friendship to mafiosi men in America served to get him deported back to his birthplace, an island in the Mediterranean,off the Italian coast. But before Mickey can get to meet the man, he must endure an adventurous trip by motorcar that almost gets him killed.Director Mike Hodges, went to work right after his wonderful "Get Carter", wrote this comedy probably with Michael Caine, the star of his previous venture, in mind. Both director, and star, show the good rapport they shared as it shows in the finished product. Mr. Hodges was blessed with the casting of some Hollywood stars of the past, Mickey Rooney, Lizabeth Scott and raspy voiced, Lionel Stander. The result is an off beat comedy that has great moments, but does not work as well as Mr. Hodges intended.The best thing in the film is the voice over by Mr. Caine who is heard narrating some of the prose he writes for fans of his genre. Mickey Rooney's Preston was a funny recreation his own experience as a former film star. Others seen in supporting roles include Dennis Price and the excellent Leopoldo Trieste, but unfortunately, their participation is limited. The locations in Malta are captured by Ousama Rawi, the cinematographer. The incidental music is credited to George Martin.

jacegaffney Mike Hodges' GET CARTER (1971) is, supposedly, a realistic gangster flick about a hit man, played by Michael Caine, who murders without demur and, indiscriminately, screws every bird in sight; yet, wells up at the thought that - is it his niece? - has been snatched up by a porno-movie ring. He systematically knocks off mob kingpins and we are invited to watch him do it - with cold-blooded relish.PULP is gangster related too, but pure Lewis Carroll in narrative plausibility; nevertheless, Caine's Mickey King is amusingly credible in the manner in which he drinks in the dream world that happens to him.PULP pulls off something that few films (including SUNSET BLVD., with the marvelous William Holden) are able to do. It makes an author its central character and you believe, from start to finish, that he is, in fact, a man of curiosity and invention, who makes his living by the employment of words.Among Hodges' other films, CROUPIER (1998) is closer to PULP than GET CARTER is because its protagonist's literary pretensions resemble King's habit of describing a shady milieu which operates in moral twilight. Both pictures suffer from direction too tightly melded to intriguing fictional conceits. However, the phlegmatic understatement of Caine's voice-over commentary (written by Hodges) is maintained impressively, the Malta locations and surprising russet colors - not to mention the freak-show supporting cast of Mickey Rooney, Lionel Stander, Lizabeth Scott, Dennis Price, Nadia Cassini's mile-long legs and, Bogart look-a-like, Robert Sacchi make it a must for connoisseurs of the truly offbeat.Was this comment useful to you?

Celticnationalist PULP re-teamed Actor Michael Caine and Director Mike Hodges just a year after their Box-Office hit and Modern Classic GET CARTER (1971)Anyone hoping for a Film that is up there with GET CARTER will be sorely disappointed as PULP fails to match the success and quality of the former.PULP has Michael Caine playing Mickey King a rather seedy Author of trashy Pulp Fiction who is hired by a reclusive and quirky former Actor Preston Gilbert (played with huge enthusiasm by Mickey Rooney) to ghostwrite his Autobiography.PULP was a big flop on its original release back in '72 and to a large extent I can understand why, very little actually happens in the Film and Caine's sarcastically witty narration - although funny - has to carry the entire Film - and it ends very suddenly which makes you think 'Oh, that's it then?' which is never a good sign.Filmed on the beautiful surroundings of Malta and Co-starring Lionel Stander and 40/50's star Lizabeth Scott with a rather pointless role played by Dennis Price (in one of his last roles) - PULP is worth watching, but it's never as good as it probably should have been and isn't a patch on GET CARTER.