Don't go into this expecting Tarantino's usual fare and you'll love this movie

Rating: 9/10 (22 January 2017)

Jackie Brown is almost certainly Tarantino's most polarising movie, usually appearing either at the top or bottom of people's rankings of Tarantino films. My friend is one of those who watched it after watching Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Django, etc. and wasn't too keen on it because of its slow pacing.
As a huge fan of Tarantino, I have to lay my hands down on the table and say I loved this movie, even though it's generally seen as a movie for people who don't like Tarantino movies.
And yet for me, it's one of my top 3 favourite Tarantino movies alongside Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill. Why? I'll tell you.
I don't enjoy Tarantino's work for his OTT violence (which this film lacks). I enjoy his work because it always clearly screams a love and passion for the cinema, and because of the tremendous dialogue and characters he uses to construct this world. This movie has all of this in spades, with amazingly fleshed out characters such as the bored, middle aged and directionless two central characters who form a silent romantic bond with each other (Jackie Brown and Max Cherry), the sleazy, cowardly, cunning drug dealer Ordell, his smart-ass girl Melanie, his ex-con friend Lewis, whose laid-back characteristics conceal a fearsome dark side and troublesome detective Ray.
The dialogue again works wonders throughout the movie, the acting is pitch-perfect across the board, with Pam Grier, Samuel L Jackson and Robert De Niro being as great as you'd expect them to be, and Robert Forster and Bridget Fonda delivering career best performances and the movie has some amazing sequences, my favourite being the sequence filmed from three different viewpoints, followed by the sequence that involves a promise of waffles and chicken and a car boot (no spoilers for either). And the plot also builds to an fantastic and logical conclusion.
In conclusion, let me sum it up for you. If you like Tarantino movies for their OTT violence and OTT characters, you probably won't like this movie. However, if you like Tarantino movies for their wonderfully realistic dialogue and amazingly charming or detestable characters, then you'll love this movie.