Pulp

This starts of with quite a few good laughs some visual, some slapstick and a few situation based but gets a little more serious as it progresses.

The acting is good with Rooney as the slightly mad client being especially good and Caine is his usual self in the lead.

The one liners are delivered well and the occasional difference between what is narrated and what is acted out is amusing.

The plot is a little thin and when it gets serious it doesn't do it too well.

It's a watchable film with no bad bits and a few good ones but it's nothing special.

Mickey King is a jobbing writer, spitting out lurid gangster novels under various fake names with the usual mix of violence and sex making them sell. He is approached to ghost write for an unnamed Hollywood "legend" and, pocketing a nice advance for his troubles, he agrees. He travels by coach to meet his subject and meets several strange characters along the way. One of them ends up dead and King steps into the background to let the police find the body but keep himself out of it – however when the body seemingly disappears he is at a loss to explain it and unable to report it.

A misfire this one but one that does have some reasonable ideas within it. The gimmick of king's narration versus what is happening and the simple view of his books versus the complex unfairness of reality is a nice idea but it does not translate into a good film. Those that really like the film (both of them) claim that this is not given enough credit because the majority of viewers don't "get" it but I beg to differ – I think it is rating "average" and remembered as such because of the film itself being just that – average. The gimmick wears thin when you realise that there is nothing else than a poorly delivered mystery. Towards the end there are themes and things of interest that vaguely start to drift out but by then it is too little too late. Comparing it to things like Chinatown is a joke and those that have suggested this have offered nothing by way of justification.

The cast are mixed. Caine plays to play into his character and indeed he does get some moments of interest with his essentially harmless character, but as the material thins so does his performance. Rooney is interesting for playing an unusual character but offers little more than novelty value. The rest of the cast fill in around the edges in strange turns here and there. Malta as a setting is filmed with a real lack of interest and comes over as dry and colourless – a visual impression that does not help the material one little bit.

Overall then an OK idea falls flat as it brings nothing else of interest to the room. Caine tires of it long before the end so it should be of no surprise if you the viewer do as well.

I was an extra in this film.. We had an hilarious time in Malta and the whole cast was great fun.. (I'm the blonde girl - tallest of them all - in the scene when they check in at the hotel..

The whole film team was living at a hotel called the PRELUNA in Malta - fantastic place still. and someone managed to use a euro-plug in the British style sockets and short-circuited the whole hotel.. Everyone pretended not to know who!!

The plot is weak but Rooney was great and Michael Caine is and will always be just Michael Caine.. He is good.. It's a pity you can't see this film on TV any more.. I have a real OLD video copy,.,,

While Hodges and Caine's 'Get Carter' has long since become a classic movie, it's follow up, 'Pulp' has been largely forgotten about. This is a shame, as, on it's on its own terms, and 'Pulp' is as rich a film. Like the previous movie, 'Pulp' is influenced by such noir writers as Chandler, Hammett and MacDonald (all three are referenced during the film), however, the big difference lies is the amount of comedy used. The first half is full of comic moments and (even though it does turn darker) comedy is ever-present.

Most obviously, it's in the way the movie parodies such clichés as voice overs (people who complain of it's over use are, I think, missing the point, as the tension between King's voice over and the actual events help give the movie it's kick).

Michael Caine's 'Micky King', is light-years away from his role as the vengeful 'Jack Carter', slightly pathetic, constantly trying to keep up with the plot, is an enjoyable performance, as is Mickey Rooney's over the hill movie star.

The 'Loaded' generation who took 'Carter' into their hearts are never, ever going to understand this movie, but in its own quirky way, it's up there with such key 'seventies movies as 'The Long Goodbye' or 'Chinatown'.

A seedy writer of sleazy pulp novels (Michael Caine) is recruited by a quirky, reclusive ex-actor (Mickey Rooney) to help him write his biography at his house in Malta.

This is Mike Hodges' follow-up to "Get Carter" (1971) and takes a bit of a different turn. Though there does remain that seedy element, only this time transported to Malta. Fans of Italian exploitation and Z-grade science fiction are sure to recognize Nadia Cassini ("Starcrash", 1978).

Hodges spent a long time coaxing noir veteran Lizabeth Scott out of retirement to fly to Malta for the shooting. Scott said that while she enjoyed the beauty of Malta, she was not pleased that most of her footage was cut out — eight scenes in all. Hodges for his part reported that Scott was challenging to work with while shooting. Scott "hadn't make a picture in 15 years and I had to really coax her into coming back." But Scott overcame her stage fright and Hodges was pleased with Scott's performance.