Pulp Fiction: 5 Ways Jules & Vincent Were BFFs (& 5 Ways They Were Frenemies)

Pulp Fiction is an incredible multi-stranded narrative, but one of the major throughlines of the movie is the one of two hitmen’s escapade to retrieve a stolen briefcase. However, it isn’t their mission that makes this narrative compelling, but the criminals’ seemingly deep friendship.

But although there are times where they both have each others’ backs, it’s apparent that the friendship is generally one-sided. In one scene, they’ll be cleaning up after each others’ mistakes, and in the next, they’ll be unsupportive of each other’s career decisions and religious beliefs. It’s hard to tell whether Jules and Vincent’s friendship in Pulp Fiction is rock solid or completely toxic.

10 BFFs: Vincent Defends Jules In The Diner

Throughout the whole movie, the friendship between Jules and Vincent seems fairly one-sided, as it’s Jules who is always lending a helping hand and Vincent never giving anything back. However, at the very end of the movie (or midway through, chronologically), when Jules is held up by Pumpkin and Honey Bunny in the diner, Vincent finally pays him back by defending him.

Though audiences generally think nothing of it and it’s just what Vincent would do in that situation, Vincent’s track record says otherwise. He could have just as easily stayed in the toilet until things blew over, but he finally did the right thing, and it’s a memorable Pulp Fiction scene that fans still think about today.

9 Frenemies: They Don’t Spend Much Time Together Outside Of Their Work

Jules and Vincent seem like they get along like a house on fire in the movie, but the only times audiences see the two together is when they’re on the clock. They might have bonded over the metric system, but that was on the way to a job, and they might have had breakfast together, but that was just after finishing one.

On top of that, every time Vincent is seen without Jules, he is doing drugs, getting up to no good, and generally taking part in things that Jules wouldn’t approve of. So along with not seeing them hang together outside of work, it seems as if they wouldn’t actually want to.

8 BFFs: Jules Warns Vincent About Taking Care Of Mia

Before they bust into Roger’s apartment to retrieve the briefcase, Vincent explains that he has been ordered by Marcellus Wallace to entertain his wife, Mia, for a night. Jules warns him that the last employee to look after Mia was thrown off a balcony by Marcellus because he gave Mia a foot rub.

What follows is a hilarious conversation about if getting a foot massage from another man is cheating, but regardless of whether or not it is, it’s cause for concern. It’s one of many examples of Jules warning Vincent when he’s blindly walking into something he probably shouldn’t be.

7 Frenemies: Vincent Gives Jules The Worst Job, Even Though It Was Vincent’s Fault

Vincent accidentally shooting Marvin as Jules drives over a speed bump is one of the most unexpected Pulp Fiction deaths. Not only is it a surprise, but it’s visually shocking too, as every window in the car is splattered with blood. The scene inevitably leads to “The Bonnie Situation,” where the two have no other choice but to clean the car.

Even though the fault wholly lies with Vincent, it’s still Jules who is on, as he puts it, “brain detail,” as he’s scrubbing the backseat of the car. Not only that, but as it’s always Jules who is driving the car, the vehicle is most likely his, which Vincent has completely ruined.

6 BFFs: Jules Helps Vincent With The Bonnie Situation Without Complaining (Much)

Some Redditors believe “The Bonnie Situation” is the dumbest scene in the movie, and there’s an argument to be made there due to its unnecessary use of the N-word. However, it’s one of the most layered scenes in the movie for a few different reasons.

In this case, it depicts just how far Jules is willing to go for Vincent, as he is doing one of the worst favors for a friend imaginable. There’s a little bit of bickering between the two of them, but at the end of the day, Jules ultimately accepts Vincent’s apology, as half-assed as it was.

5 Frenemies: Vincent Drags Jules Down With Him

Throughout the whole movie, Vincent is depicted as being fairly inadequate at his job. Not only does he accidentally kill Marvin, but he almost kills Mia, and his substance abuse could interfere with the work at any point.

There’s an argument to be made that Vincent is responsible for everything that goes wrong in the movie, but Jules never steps foot out of line. In that respect, Vincent has selfish tendencies and never once thinks about how his actions may affect his partner. Though Jules had nothing to do with Mia’s overdose, it could have very easily impacted his working relationship with Marcellus if the worst did happen to his wife.

4 BFFs: They Will Happily Drive Around Talking About Burgers All Day

When audiences are very first introduced to Vincent and Jules, they’re driving around the area chitchatting. Little is known about them, why they’re in suits, or even why they’re driving around together.

Audiences wouldn’t know that they’re hitmen or professional criminals until later on, and that’s because, instead of addressing any of that or any plot details, the pair simply talk about burgers. Pulp Fiction is often lauded as Quentin Tarantino’s best movie and it redefined screenwriting. Part of the way it did this is through its pop culture references and inconsequential burger dialogue — and the two characters could clearly drive around talking about burgers all day.

3 Frenemies: Vincent Criticizes Jules For His Beliefs

Based on the biblical verse that Jules recited to Roger in the apartment, the hitman is obviously religious. And after he and Vincent are shot at from nearly point-blank range and escape without a single injury, Jules believes he has witnessed a miracle. However, Vincent ridicules Jules for saying such a thing.

Though Vincent’s beliefs might not align with his partner’s, Jules is free to believe whatever he likes, and nobody should ever be criticized for what they believe in, especially not by a friend. And even if Vincent doesn’t agree, the idea that they witnessed a miracle is actually plausible, as there were bullet holes in the wall behind where they were standing.

2 BFFs: Jules Might Have Avenged Vincent’s Death After The Movie Ended

One of the biggest appeals of Pulp Fiction is all of the mysteries that surround the movie, whether it’s what is inside the briefcase or why Marcellus has a band-aid on the back of his neck. It has led to a ton of fascinating and creative fan theories, and one of the best Reddit fan theories details that Jules avenged Vincent’s death by hunting down and killing Butch.

Though this didn’t happen in the movie, it’s one of the best and most popular fan theories about Pulp Fiction, and it’s one that makes the most sense too. If that did happen in the world that Tarantino built, then they really were BFFs.

1 Frenemies: Vincent Doesn’t Support Jules’ Plan To Retire

After the whole belief that what he just witnessed was a miracle, Jules tells Vincent that he’s going to quit his criminal career. Vincent, again, criticizes him. And it’s simply another case of Jules not being supported by someone he calls a friend.

If someone lambasts their friend for their beliefs and then goes on to mock them for deciding to retire from a criminal profession, that person is not a friend. They are just trying to pull that person down to justify their own downward spiral, and that’s clearly what Vincent was doing to Jules, not just for that one scene, but the whole movie.