Jackie Brown (1997)
Crime | Drama | Thriller

Special Collector's Edition

Six players on the trail of a half million in cash. There's only one question... Who's playing who? Quentin Tarantino presents the premiere of the JACKIE BROWN COLLECTOR'S SERIES DVD, complete with your favorite award-winning movie, all-star cast, and never-before-seen footage. What do a sexy stewardess (Pam Grier), a street-tough gun runner (Samuel L. Jackson), a lonely bail bondsman (Academy Award®-nominee Robert Forster), a shifty ex-con (Robert DeNiro), an earnest federal agent (Michael Keaton), and a stoned-out beach bunny (Bridget Fonda) have in common? They're six players on the trail of a half million dollars in cash! The only questions are ... who's getting played ... and who's gonna make the big score! Combining an explosive mix of intense action and edgy humor, Tarantino scores again with the entertaining JACKIE BROWN!

Editor's Note: Quentin Tarantino returns to the crime genre once again with this adaptation of Elmore Leonards RUM PUNCH. Transplanting Leonards crime story from Miami to Tarantinos city of choice, Los Angeles, JACKIE BROWN cruises along smoothly, much like the films 1970s soul soundtrack. The film follows Jackie Brown (Pam Grier), a flight attendant who makes extra cash by running drugs and cash for sleazebag Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). When Jackie sees the opportunity to make off with a large chunk of change, she begins to play everyone around her, including two detectives who are threatening her with jail time if she doesnt rat out Ordell, and a sympathetic bail bondsman (Robert Forster) who finds himself falling for Jackie. Tarantino sets a pace that is laid back and groovy, building to an eventual climax that determines whether or not Jackie walks away with the booty. In much the same way that Tarantino resuscitated John Travoltas career with PULP FICTION, he does the same thing here with Grier and Forster. Overall, JACKIE BROWN is a less in-your-face effort than Tarantinos previous films, but it's this downshift in gears that makes it so refreshing.

Plot Summary: When she's not stowing carry-ons, 40-something flight attendant Jackie Brown runs soiled cash and other sundries for L.A. lowlife Ordell Robbie, an all-purpose bad guy scheming with a dull-witted prison buddy to pull off their biggest run yet. But trouble arises in the form of gung-ho lawmen who want Ms. Brown to rat out her boss, lest they send her up the river. With the help of a beleaguered bail bondsman with the hots for her, Jackie plays both sides in hopes of snagging the haul--a cool half-million--for herself. Quentin Tarantino applies his characteristic loquacity and fondness for 1970s cheese to RUM PUNCH, Elmore Leonard's spare, Miami-set crime suspense story.

Film Facts: • Theatrical release: December 25, 1997. • The film is based on Elmore Leonard's novel RUM PUNCH. Tarantino didn't even realize that the character of Jackie Brown was written as a white woman until after he cast Pam Grier in the lead role. • Robert Forster received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in JACKIE BROWN at the 1997 Academy Awards. This was his first role in a major film since 1969's MEDIUM COOL. • Michael Keaton portrays agent Ray Nicolette, the same Elmore Leonard-written character he plays in Steven Soderbergh's OUT OF SIGHT. • In the film, Jackie Brown gets take-out from Teriyaki Donut, the same place Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) got food from in PULP FICTION.

User Comment: bob the moo Birmingham, UK • Jackie Brown is a 44 year old air hostess who also acts as a money carrier for her boss, gun dealer Ordell Robbie. When one of Ordell's other employee's is caught he is forced to kill him, however, before he can get to him the employee tells the police about Jackie and they pick her up. With Jackie facing jail or being killed by Ordell she strikes a deal with both the police and him to bring in a large stash of money. However to help her retirement she plans to play the game to her own ends.

Coming as a follow up to both Dogs and Pulp, this film was going to be the `greatest movie ever made' or it was going to be met with a critical response that seems to be a bit negative. It was the hype and hyperbole around anything baring the name Tarantino that perhaps was giving every film he did higher and higher standards to meet, it is wasn't Jackie Brown that was met in this way it would have been the next film, or the next one. However the reviews were mostly good, but it did get some unfair reviews from critics who expected this to continue the upward trend. In a way I believe that this film did show Tarantino's growth as a director.

Where Pulp Fiction was dizzying in it's style and pace, Jackie Brown is much more of a mature, balanced film that is satisfying in a more traditional sense that the design of Pulp. Developed from a Leonard novel, the plot is a solid crime thriller with a good plot that still gives room for Tarantino to do some time shifting as he reveals some key scenes from different perspectives to allow us to see the bigger picture. As a story it fills the rather generous running time pretty well and is enjoyable throughout.

The film is still full of Tarantinoisms for the fans - the heavy soundtrack, the pop culture references, the witty, slick dialogue. However where the film stands out is that the characters are actually better than in his previous films where they never really went beyond the story and dialogue. Here not only are they better but they also include well-written female parts! While some of the characters are as good as they need to be within the confines of the basic crime story, it is in Jackie and Max where Tarantino has grown up a bit - although in fairness this was an adaptation rather than his own script, but he still manages them better than some of his own thin characters.

Following the praise for Pulp and Tarantino's ability to rejuvenate careers, he must have had no problem cherry picking for this role. Grier gives a great performance and should be grateful for the role in an industry that generally ignores middle-aged women (not to mention black women!). The only thing surprising about her is how poorly she has taken this big lead role and used it to take her career on. Her performance embraces her age and uses it well, but it is Forster who gives the standout performance here. Not an actor many will be aware of apart from this film, he got an Oscar nomination for this and I think he deserved it. His performance is very low-key and quite moving - I think I will appreciate his work here more as I get older. Jackson does what is expected of him and has no real character, but his energy and skill are there to see. De Niro plays a little against type and is an interesting, but underused character. Fonda is really, really sexy and has some good lines while the rest of the cast do good work in small roles with people like Keaton, Tucker and Bowen in there.

Overall I enjoy this film and can understand why it will never be loved to the extent that Pulp was and is. However to me this is a more satisfying film with an enjoyable plot and a more traditional delivery. The development of actual good characters beyond snappy dialogue is what impressed me the most .

One. Summary: Less showy than Pulp, but a more mature story that is just as enjoyable.

--- JOYA ---

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