I agree. I don’t think Marcellus and Vincent were expecting to find Butch at the apartment. They assumed he had done the smart thing and left town. They were looking for clues for where he went.
This explains why Marsellus was there - Vincent was muscle, not a guy you’d send for brain work. It also explains the their casual attitude - they figured they were searching an abandoned apartment not waiting in ambush.
If you watch the credits, she was playing “herself”. So it was supposedly the actual actress Kathy Griffin and not some random woman who witnessed the hit-and-run.
I instantly read this in Tony Soprano’s voice. 
I agree. I always thought there was an unspoken implication that all of these guys were slightly low-rent.
Marcellus had a really, really nice house. You see some of it with Mia and Vincent, but watch the scene where’s he’s talking to Jules about sending the Wolfe - he’s having breakfast next to an infinity pool overlooking the Hollywood hills. That’s not low rent.
Good point. Marsellus clearly was very wealthy. But Jules drove what appeared to be a 10-year old Datsun, and even the mysterious and revered Wolf (Wolfe?) drove an Acura Integra.
A rookie movement.
I never analyzed it, but I did know that Butch saw Marcellus right after leaving the apartment. Reviewing the clip post above that part is obvious, but I never really considered why he was there. I thought it was just weird coincidence. Now I have to think he went out to get coffee. I suppose it was Vincent’s job to whack Butch, so he was the one to stay and wait while the big guy went out to grab the coffee.
Maybe I shouldn’t read these threads, it’s easier not to think about these things. Now every time I watch the movie this will be on my mind.
>Were you Uncle Conrad and Aunt Ginny millionaires?
>No.
>Well, your Uncle Marsellus is.
As I said, he was pretty well-off personally. Doesn’t mean he ran a “vast criminal empire” with hundreds (or even dozens) of underlings, though.
Seems to me he made money mostly off his nightclubs and rigging sports events. That would put him roughly in the same league of sleaze as, say, Jack Ruby.
Considering they brought a freakin’ silenced submachinegun with them, it was probably a combination of both.
They couldn’t have ransacked the apartment too much, or Butch would have noticed something was wrong immediately.
Hence the title “PULP Fiction.” Which, by definition, is cheap and trashy.
It even said so at the start of the movie!
Not just any donuts; I believe he was on his way back from Teriyaki Donut.
According to imcdb.org, Jules’s car was a 1974 Chevy Nova (I always figured he wanted something cheap and nondescript for when he was working; something that wouldn’t attract attention and that he could abandon if a job went bad) and The Wolf’s was a 1992 Acura NSX (Not the very top echelon of sports cars, but well-regarded and somewhat unusual.).
As for Marsellus being at Butch’s apartment, remember he is seen to be something of a hands-on manager. He makes the payoff to Butch directly, and he’s at the arena where the fight has taken place. It doesn’t seem completely out-of-place for him to be with Vincent during the search, especially since his partner recently quit without giving notice.
I’ve always kinda wondered if Marsellus was happy with the deal he made with Butch at the pawn shop. He probably doesn’t know that Butch just killed Vincent. And one of the terms of the deal was that Butch not tell anybody what happened, but when he gets back to Fabienne he says it’s been the weirdest day of his life, so it sounds like he’s about to tell her all about it.
And, if Vincent spent two years in Amsterdam on Marsellus’ payroll (the way the bartender calls him “Vincent Vega, our man in Amsterdam” implies it wasn’t a vacation), maybe some illicit substances as well?
Possible. But then why does Vincent choose to deal with Lance to get his heroin? It didn’t seem to me he was one of Marsellus’s “associates.”
He didn’t exactly give Vincent a discount, did he?
Very good point! But I doubt Marsellus, who threw a buddy out a window and through the roof of a greenhouse, would have been overly concerned with Vincent’s death. More likely, it’s a minor inconvenience of having to find some new muscle.
Question: Where was The Wolf when he got the call from Marsellus?
I’m pretty sure I know; I just want to see what the general impression among others is.
Bonus question: Where does most of the action in*** Reservoir Dogs*** take place?
Again, I know; I just want to see what the general consensus is.
He’s at some kind of fancy dress up party at a hotel. Which is odd considering it was late morning.
In an abandoned warehouse/industrial building where they all planned to meet after the robbery.
30 minutes away from Jimmy’s place (but he’ll be there in 10).
I always figured he was at a fabulous party at someone’s house; the kind of party you wear a tux to and that lasts 'til the sun comes up.
It looks like a house to me. I assumed his own.
It’s possible Vincent was running some kind of business for Marsellus in Amsterdam. But as I wrote above, Vincent doesn’t strike me as the management type. Even on basic muscle assignments he seemed to need Jules along to run things.
My guess is that Vincent had committed some kind of job for Marsellus but there were complications either from the police or another criminal organization and Vincent had to be sent away for a while until things cooled down. So of like when Michael had to go to Sicily in The Godfather.