Review of Jackie Brown (1997) by Alex R — 29 Jul 2013

If I'm frank, it is just a less-interesting Pulp Fiction. If I'm generous it's a moodier and surprisingly mellow Tarantino film that has a unique charm lacking in his' previous works. Either way, it's not his' best work and it is really where the fatigue of his film style comes into play and so it makes sense that his next work was Kill Bill which, well, lets be real here- it continues with that same predictable style but it takes things up a notch and for me, brings back the energy and interest that was somewhat lacking in this one. It feels like a bit of a slump but despite my dislike of Tarantino, I do like the films and even the slump is an enjoyable action flick.

The Blaxploitation elements don't work here- Samuel L. Jackson does what he near enough always does and it isn't particularly interesting in this case. This isn't exciting enough to make the Jackson's character feel like anything other than a stereotype- it don't feel larger than life- everything that makes Jackson's character interesting would still be there without him calling someone a nigger every 2.5 minutes or adding motherfucker to everything. That can bring energy when the tone is right but it never is here and Jackson's character should have been fairly dark and serious rather than some kind of parody. Playing some Womack is always a good move though.

Dialogue-wise there's some cool stuff but there's nothing like the energy in the previous two films- much of this is passable and feels like filler rather an interesting side. De Niro offers little here, it felt like a real waste giving him a character who tends to live in the background here and as the film went on, just like with Jackson, De Niro just seemed to be playing Robert De Niro and when he does that- I lose interest.

Grier is great and there's clearly some emphasis on her here-it's definitely Jackie Brown's film and so it should be as she was the one that really caught my attention and kept me engrossed in the film though I enjoyed Keaton's performance also, along with the supporting cast.

It's overlong- the slow pacing doesn't fit Tarantino and when the plot is pretty mild for his' usual stuff, the outcome is definitely you wishing that the film would move along and that's disappointing considering how much better it could have been with some work done in the editing room. Even when all is said in done, there's no big surprises with this film and that really shouldn't be the case with Tarantino.

Moving on from the downsides, all the other trademark stuff that you expect from Tarantino is here and while, as I said earlier, much of it is beginning to wear thin here, it still has a lot packed into it and leaves us with a feeling of time well-spent.

It gets stuck in the middle though- it's not as good as the previous movies and it's not even as good as movies that take influence from Tarantino's work such as 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'. It's by all means an acceptable movie but it disappoints as a follow up to 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'Pulp Fiction' and it's where the cracks start to show in Tarantino's scope. Fans will enjoy it overall though and there's nothing wrong with the film if you want something decent to watch but it's all very unremarkable.