4 ideas
The screenplay weaves the stories of two hitmen, a boxer who double-crosses a mob boss, and a diner robbery into a single overlapping web. Characters recur across segments whose chronology is deliberately scrambled.
Tarantino tells the events out of order so that a character dead in one segment is alive in a later scene set earlier. The reshuffled timeline turns structure itself into a source of meaning and surprise.
The screenplay lavishes attention on digressive conversation, about burgers, foot massages and Bible verses, that carries character and tension more than plot events do. Talk becomes the medium of suspense.
The script self-consciously recombines conventions of dime-novel crime, blaxploitation and B-movies into a knowing collage. It elevates disreputable 'pulp' material through style and structure.