Review of Jackie Brown (1997) by Chris O — 12 May 2018

Although it may feel drawn out at times, "Jackie Brown" is a smart and fun thrill ride.

Ruthless arms dealer Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), who lives with perpetually stoned beach-babe Melanie (Bridget Fonda), teams with his old buddy Louis Gara (Robert De Niro), just released from prison after serving four years for armed robbery. ATF agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) and cop Mark Dargus (Michael Bowen) bust stewardess Jackie Brown (Pam Grier), who was smuggling money into the country for Ordell. Ordell springs Jackie, but when middle-aged bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster) picks her up at the jail, he's attracted to her, and they choose a romantic route with detours. Mistrust and suspicions surface after Jackie pits Ordell and the cops against each other, convincing Ordell that she's going to double-cross the cops.

Okay, I'll be honest with myself. Before going to college to pursue a major in film, I had never watched a Quentin Tarantino film. Am I ashamed of it? No, because I hate when people say that you HAVE to watch a certain film in order to consider yourself a film major. Still, I knew that Tarantino was, and still is one of the most proclaimed filmmakers of this generation. So, for my third Tarantino film, I watched "Jackie Brown". My friends and I sat down with a nice bottle of Jumilla and got to watching.

Let me start out with my main problem of the film. I felt like it was drawn out for too long. Yes, some of the sequences were brilliant. There were some real long takes of just pure, riveting dialogue that felt so natural. Those scenes were great and this film was filled so many examples of how to pull of great, one-take scenes. However, I still felt they went on too long. A lot of this film was dialogue heavy and in a sense, narrative heavy. While they never just blatantly said the exposition (Because Tarantino is smarter than that), it still felt like the film could've been trimmed down a bit. Then again, if it was trimmed down, who's to say it wouldn't feel rushed?

In terms of performances, this film had it all. The entire cast had some great moments. I think Pam Grier was a great female lead and she really sold her part. Her, along with people like Samuel L. Jackson, Forster, Keaton, De Niro, and more all did great in their roles, leading or supporting. The performances were the things that really sold this film, whether it was the simple dialogue interactions or the big moments.

The story in general was fun. It was really well written and it felt like what I've recognized as a Tarantino thing. He doesn't tell his entire story in a long linear fashion, but he does just enough to keep you in the loop while still allowing you to think for yourself. I thought the story was well written and like I said if it didn't drag on more, I think I would've loved this film.

In the end, "Jackie Brown" was a fun piece with a lot of smarts to it. It's definitely a great film by Tarantino and I can't wait to see more by this man.