The film takes several storylines and interweaves them so that not all the pieces seem to fit until the end of the movie. As the scenes unfold we get to find out about the low life happenings and the larger than life characters of sleazy urban America.

John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson appear as besuited hitmen Vincent Vega and Jules Winnfield. They are equally at ease discussing the finer points of foot massage and fast food or performing acts of gross savagery upon thier boss's debtors.

Their Boss is Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) a man with a reputation for disposing of his enemies with the aid of high rise buildings and gravity. Wallace is not a man to be crossed, but this is just what boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) does when he triumphs in a match he was supposed to throw. His swift escape from the ring to safety is jeopardised when he must return home to retrieve the watch left to him by his father.

Marsellus' pretty wife Mia (Uma Thurman) also turns out to be a dangerous person to know. Left in the charge of Vincent Vega for the night, returning home after a dance and a couple of $5 milkshakes, the evening takes a turn for the worse. A confusion over drugs leads to Mia taking a potentially lethal heroin overdose, leaving Vega to drive her around to the local pusher for some urgent first-aid.

Adding to the confusion are a pair of bank robbers trying their hand at restaurant robbery, a shopkeeper who indulges in highly dubious sexual practices and Mr Winston Wolf (Harvey Keitel), a man who can clean up the messiest situation.