Jackie Brown | Jackie Brown (Widescreen Edition) [VHS]

A Fine Elmore Leonard Adapation | Jackie Brown (Widescreen Edition) [VHS] | Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson

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	• Jackie Brown (Widescreen Edition) [VHS] Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson Miramax Films, 1999 average customer review:based on 251 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Tarantino's Coming of Age.

"Jackie Brown," Quentin Tarantino's third feature length film, finds the writer/director at perhaps his most straight-forward and mature. While he rejects the notion that he is maturing as a film-maker in an interview featured on the DVD, it is quite obvious that the man who created such cult classics as Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs was out to prove he wasn't merely a one-trick pony, and it paid off in one of his most character driven and rewarding efforts to date.

Adapted from the Elmore Leonard novel, Rum Punch, "Jackie Brown" is the story of an aging stewardess (Pam Grier) in trouble with the law who concocts a scheme to rip off an arms dealer (Samuel L. Jackson) of a cool $500,000. She of course needs the help of a bail bondsman (Robert Forster) whose midlife crisis takes a backseat to the crush he develops for her. On the surface, it appears to be just another heist film, but underneath all the layers, at its core, "Jackie Brown" is an unlikely love story from probably the last director you'd expect. While the job and the way it's carried out is a big part of the film, Tarantino knows well enough to allow his characters ample time to breathe, making it the sort of film where you forget for a while who you're watching and simply appreciate the unique personalities they bring to life.

It also helps, of course, that the film is filled to brim with a great cast of old and new, obscure and respectable. Robert De Niro has perhaps one of the most entertaining roles as an ex-con who keeps to himself, silently observing and judging the world he is getting reacquainted with. Bridget Fonda plays Samuel L. Jackson's sex-pot/pot-head surfer girl girlfriend with a dry sense of humor that bounces well off of De Niro's stone-cold demeanor. Grier and Forster, who were both dragged from the depths of obscurity only to find their careers slightly revitalized for the film are both in top form and go a long way in driving home the human nature of the plot. Michael Keaton, playing an ATF agent who would later appear as the same character in 1998's Out of Sight, is perhaps one of the film's greatest surprises, as he is in turns quirky and overly confident, while being clueless all the while.

While fans of Tarantino's more notorious fare will have a hard time seeing the brilliance of "Jackie Brown," it's a film that will no doubt please the palate of the viewer who craves rich characters, natural pacing and an engrossing plot, not to mention a killer soundtrack. Out of all of Tarantino's work, this is the one that is the most grounded in reality and, aside from Forster's Oscar nomination, deserved much more acclaim and credit than it was given. In a way, this is the cult classic in Tarantino's league of cult classics, and a film that certainly holds up time and time again.

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Jackie Brown

Jackie supplements her meager income as a stewardess by smuggling cash into the U.S. for gunrunner Ordell Robbie--until the day an ATF agent and an L.A. cop bust her at the airport. The cops pressure her to help them bring down Ordell, threatening prison if she refuses. With a sympathetic bailbondsman, who understands her restlessness only too well, Jackie arrives at a bold almost foolhardy plan to play off these opposing forces against each other. Matters are complicated by Ordell's confederates, Louis Gara and Melanie Ralston who have agendas of their own. By appearing to cooperate with both sides, Jackie attempts to outfox them both and walk away with a half million dollar payday. This is the movie that proves Tarantino is the real thing.

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A Fine Elmore Leonard Adapation

It has been many years since I saw this 1997 film and I had forgotten how good it was. Some of my favorite actors (Samuel L. Jackson, Bridget Fonda, and the lead Pam Grier) are in the film and Robert Forster won an Oscar nomination for his role as bailbondsman Max Cherry. Leonard's lead in the novel Rum Punch was a white woman: he agreed that Tarantino's selection of Pam Grier, a fixture in many blaxploitation films, was the right person to play opposite Jackson. Coming between Pulp Fiction (1994) and Kill Bill (2003-4), this film has not gotten the attention it deserves.

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Quentin's under-rated flick

After the bravura success of "Pulp Fiction", Quentin Tarentino waited 3 yrs and made a turnaround with this adaptation of Elmore Leonard's "Rum Punch" --and in the process, revived the careers of Pam Grier and Robert Forster who both were awarded with Golden Globe, SAG and Academy Award (Best Supporting Actor) nominations. Though the film is a little over-long, you'll be drawn in by the even deeper characterizations (even more than "Pulp Fiction")and well developed plot. In fact, as an actor, I've seen several scenes from this film enacted in Scene Study classes in L.A. which attests to the quality of this film. Another interesting aspect of this film is the near absence of violence and gore which were in Quentins previous films but again this is a plus rather than a minus. If you're a fan of noir and am not yet a Tarentino fan--you will be after checking this out!!

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This Black Sheep Delivers 84%

You know, it's kind of too bad that Jackie Brown doesn't get much recongition amongst so-called Tarantino fans (being a fan, by the way, does not mean liking everything automatically), but it's a worthy candidate and still a Tarantino movie. Tarantino is able to make great movies no matter what, and this movie is another testament to why I love this guys movies. Sure, he isn't entirely original, but his movies are entertaining, and you don't need to understand such hopelessly trivial "deep" themes to understand. Gah, _____ that. The reason you should watch movies is the entertainment value, that's what matters so much. Themes are there in real life, so you really don't need them in movies. Sure, themes and social commentary make good movies, but liking movies even though they have a lack of meaning doesn't (of course, it helps to know, however, many mindless movies are actually more boring than movies with subtle meaning). Just to be sure, Jackie Brown is a bit restrained but still has the Tarantino trademarks that we all know and love. Here's the run down.

DIALOGUE 8/10

Is this the best dialogue Tarantino has ever done? Probably not. All of the dialogue is much better than usual, although, unlike Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs, plenty of the dialogue kind of moves the plot around, it's merely there to be there. That's definitly not a bad thing, but I still am not going to give it all points all for that. But then again, the characters do more than just talk about the situations; they react as well. Some movies would just speak their lines and them move on. In Jackie Brown, however, they speak after turn of events. It makes everything a lot more human and a heck of a lot more fun to watch. Example of this would be after Louis meets Melanie (middle of the movie), he talks with Jackson about the conversation they had. And this movie doesn't suffer from third person syndrome either; the cast and characters do a great job in making sure this doesn't happen.

However, even though the sharp and cool dialogue that's oh so prevalant in Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs is toned down, there are still plenty of classic one liners and dialogue sets that are insanely quotable over and over again. The chicks with guns segment at the beginning, the funny bickering between Jackson's and Chris Tucker's characters, and Jackson and Deniro's discussion on Melanie, to name a few. Overall, this is great dialogue from Tarantino, and while not as good as some of his other movies, it still stands out with ease.

CHARACTERS 8/10

Tarantino once again gives off characters of interest, and while they are largely based off of Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch, I have not read the novel yet and I can't quite tell you what was changed and whatnot. However, Jackie Brown features primarly black characters as a homage to Blaxplotation films, starting with the titular character played by Pam Grier and gun merchant Ordell Robbie played by Samuel L. Jackson changed into characters who were white in the novel. I heard from a lot of people that the novel is great as well, but I have no experience with the novel. However, the characters still stand out, and the acting makes it come to life even better.

Played by Pam Grier, the 44 year old stewardess is getting old and really can't leave her job. Unlke a blaxplotation character that momumentally kicks @$$ and is basically a black persons, Pam Grier doesn't play this type of quasi-kung fu bad@$$. Rather, she plays a real, tired, but tough and crafty middle age women who sees this as her last chance to finally get some money. Her attitude is great, she has a liekable personality, and is up there with The Bride from Kill Bill. She forms a bond with Max Cherry, played by Robert Forrester, who is like her in many ways. The mutual undestanding between each other makes the movie have a good human element along with it's style, fun, and Tarantino trademarks with it.

Meanwhile, among the more fun characters include, well everybody else. Bridget Fonda plays probably one of the most memorable characters in the Tarantino catalog, a beach girl stoner who lounges around in shorts and a bikini top all day, taking hits from bongs and watching television. Her big mouth and attitude Samuel L. Jackson doesn't give quite the performance he did in Pulp Fiction, but still dynamite. Chris Tucker's bickering is funny as heck, and the legendary Robert DeNiro plays a quiet, kind of shifty ex-con. I could ramble on and on but it wouldn't be worth a damn anyway. It's another great set of Tarantino characters, and I'll be damned if they aren't memorable.

PLOT 8/10

I admit the characters make the plot more interesting, but this is still a plot that works very well on it's own. The main plot revolves around a half million dollars in cash, which Jackie needs very much considering how much money she makes as a stewardess. She sets up nearly everybody. It's not that complicated, and it's not as human or prominent as the characters, but it's still a pretty smart plot that is worth viewing again and again. It's pretty clever how Jackie sets up FBI Agent Ray Nicolette to get the money who pretty much uses Jackie to capture Ordell Robbie for smuggling guns. I like the plot as far as I'm concered, and the plot is more of a story as well, events unfolding, problems coming up; Tarantino once again tells a story, and not merely a situation. It's not an epic story, but still a good story anyway.

DIRECTING AND STYLE 20/20

While Jackie Brown is less than a cartoon character and more of a real, tired, 44 year old middle age woman, that's not to say Tarantino doesn't go with the style of the blaxplotation genre. He does so with great ease, coming from much of the bright, sunny crime ridde area of LA, the and especially his music soundtrack, which is one of his best. Using an amazing mix of soul, funk, and a couple of assorted oddities, Tarantino uses music not as a lame sense of drawing you in, but to really make the movie seen more effective anyway. Music is supposed to be relatable to life anyway, and Tarantino knows this. Not to mention it works in making the movie more of a blaxplotation film. Furthermore, while not on the soundtrack, songs from Roy Ayer's films are used as well, which were used in many blaxplotation films such as Coffy. It's nifty and witty, and works very well, and well, makes the movie a __________ blaxplotation movie. What else is there to say anyway?

Jackie Brown is the Tarantino film that mostly goes over lot's of people's heads, but it is no less entertaining in many ways (although it's not as good as Pulp Fiction, obviously). Don't be fooled by Jackie Brown's different approach and black sheep persona of the Tarantino canon, it's just one of his charms that his movies seem to be black sheeps when compared to certain others. In any case, ignoring this fine work would be kind of futile. Those who don't like Tarantino will not like it, but if you are a fan, you won't be disappointed, as long as you don't expect Pulp Fiction. However, expect that Tarantino touch, and expect his directing, the great soundtrack, the colorful and likeable characters, his great crime plots, the genre blurring, and so on. So get it.

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The curiosity of Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown is Robert Forster's worldly wise bail bondsman Max Cherry, the most alive character in this adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch. The Academy Awards saw it the same way, giving Forster the film's only nomination. The film is more "rum" than "punch" and will certainly disappoint those who are looking for Tarantino's trademark style. This movie is a slow, decaffeinated story of six characters glued to a half million dollars brought illegally into the country. The money belongs to Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson), a gunrunner just bright enough to control his universe and do his own dirty work. His just-paroled friend--a loose term with Ordell--Louis (Robert De Niro) is just taking up space and could be interested in the money. However, his loyalties are in question between his old partner and Ordell's doped-up girl (Bridget Fonda). Certainly Fed Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) wants to arrest Ordell with the illegal money. The key is the title character, a late-40s-ish flight attendant (Pam Grier) who can pull her own weight and soon has both sides believing she's working for them. The end result is rarely in doubt, and what is left is two hours of Tarantino's expert dialogue as he moves his characters around town.

Tarantino changed the race of Jackie and Ordell, a move that means little except that it allows Tarantino to heap on black culture and language, something he has a gift and passion for. He said this film is for an older audience although the language and drug use may put them off. The film is not a salute to Grier's blaxploitation films beyond the musical score. Unexpectedly the most fascinating scenes are between Grier and Forster: two neo-stars glowing in the limelight of their first major Hollywood film after decades of work. --Doug Thomas

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