Review of Jackie Brown (1997) by Chris W — 06 Jan 2013

I feel it was wrong that this film was not as successful initially as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction were. Part of that might have to do with the fact that the film's story is based off of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch, and is not original to QT, but that shouldn't matter.

What we have here is a middle-aged flight attendant who gets caught up in a smuggling scheme with a slimy gun runner who finds herself caught between him and the law, with an important choice to make.

Tarantino and the cast handle the material quite well and make it their own. One could start to call this movie Tarantino's homage to Blaxploitation, and while I can't completely deny that, I must say that it is only Blaxploitation in spirit. It's actually a romance of sorts disguised as a crime epic, and the way I see it, there isn't a damn thing wrong with that.

Pam Grier had a career renaissance here, and she does wonderfully. Robert Forster is also quite good, as is Sam Jackson, but I've always gotten the most enjoyment from Bridget Fonda's stoned beach bunny and a very low key Rober t De Niro as the wayward ex-con trying to get back into society.

The needle drops are wonderful as you'd expect, the cinematography is likewise top notch, and the film earns its lengthy running time by having interesting and well developed characters that we grow to care about.

This might be slightly lesser Tarantino, but it's still a brilliant film nonetheless. Definitely check it out, as it's a shame it's become one of his more underrated and under appreciated works.