RATING: ½


By Shawn McKenna
Date Reviewed: 8/02/99

Very few directors have the tenacity and zeal of Quentin Tarantino. His kinetic energy can be seen through the juxtaposition of images of a "simple" scene. If someone is going to ring a doorbell, there is more than just a static shot placed ten feet away describing the action. There are no throwaway scenes for Tarantino. His direction is a mixture of John Woo meets Martin Scorsese. Jackie Brown has a slower and more linear pace than Pulp Fiction, and is inevitably going to be compared betwixt the twain, but it is an important work in Tarantino's portfolio.

Tarantino does not forget actors. He does not cast actors because they are currently a-list thespians. He casts characters that have acting talent and charisma. He helped restart the career of John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, cast film noir actor Lawrence Tierney in Resevoir Dogs and in Jackie Brown he cast 70's actors Pam Grier and Robert Forster who did not even have an agent at the time of roll call. Pam Grier is excellent as Jackie Brown, an aging stewardess for the worst paying airline. She smuggles money for Ordell (Samuel Jackson) to help pay her bills. Jackie just was caught by an ATF agent (Michael Keaton) because Beaumont (Chris Tucker), one of Ordell's lackeys has fingered her as a go-between. Forster is Max Cherry a bail bondsman who bails out Jackie for Ordell. Forster finds himself fascinated with Jackie and helps her out. Their pairing is one of the strongest points of this film. They do not follow a conventional relationship. How could they?

This movie is based upon Elmore Leonard's novel Rum Punch, though much of the dialogue is credited to Tarantino. The characters have a past, some have a future, and many have lives that are not confined to the space of the movie -- like Ordell who has mistresses stashed all over Los Angeles and Max's assistant who finds people. How? That is his job, he finds people. An ineffable secret makes us wonder -- just like the briefcase in Pulp Fiction. Tarantino also alludes to other movies. He directly refers to The Killer, the great movie by John Woo starring Chow Yun-Fat. The basic plot of Jackie playing both sides can be accredited to Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa. And there are other secrets such as what film's music is playing as Cherry walks out of the theater (for the love of God I cannot remember) and who's voice is that on the answering machine (Tarantino).

I am still wondering about De Niro's performance. He plays Ordell's buddy just released from prison. He is burnt-out and spacey. His performance is understated and he seems obsequious except for one important scene with Bridget Fonda where his rage comes bursting out. The lesson: do not nag Robert too much. I find that what Robert did after his climatic scene was illogical and dumb (I am not going to go into details because I do not want to spoil anything). It seemed to only set up the next scene.

Some complaints about this film was its slow pace and that it took to long -- 155 minutes. I would not have minded it to be longer. The plot had enough twists and superb dialog to keep me interested throughout the whole movie. I am biast. I am a big Tarantino fan as well as De Niro, and Jackson. This movie has me interested in knowing more about Forster's past. I cannot believe that he was ignored this long. Nevertheless, I remember how long it took Jon Voight to come back from the void.



JACKIE BROWN (1997)
Jackie Brown: Pam Grier
Ordell: Samuel Jackson
Louis: Robert De Niro
Max Cherry: Robert Forster
Melanie: Bridget Fonda

Director: Quentin Tarantino


Running Time: 155m.
Rated: R
Genre: Drama/Crime
Country: USA


Other Critics:

Roger Ebert
Leonard Maltin ??