Detach "Jackie" from its predecessor and its merits shine

Rating: 8/10 (8 June 2011)

It's never easy to follow up brilliance. After suddenly rocketing to notoriety, Quentin Tarantino was left with an inevitable task: make a movie after "Pulp Fiction." His choice came in the form of "Jackie Brown," the story of an airline stewardess (saying "flight attendant" would not gel with the vibe of this film) caught between an arms dealer and the law and hoping to pit them against each other in order to walk away with a half a million dollars.
Despite an abundance of a badass trash-talking Samuel L. Jackson, "Jackie Brown" doesn't have the same growl as "Pulp Fiction," but the comparison only exists beyond that because they're crime dramas made within three years of each other.
"Jackie Brown" has a distinctly more retro '70s vibe than "Pulp Fiction" as well. Tarantino paints Jackie (Pam Grier) as a tough-as-nails woman who can stick up for herself in a man's world, but that doesn't make it any easier for her. This "Charlie's Angels"-style feminism in addition to music choices and title sequences intend to make "Jackie Brown" kick old-school ass. It doesn't run all that deep, but it certainly keeps Tarantino's signature nice and shiny.
The film feels an awful lot like a foul-mouthed version of a Coen brothers film in that small- time characters put themselves way in over their heads. The core relationship in the film exists between Jackie and Max Cherry (Robert Forster in an Oscar-nominated role). Max is enamored with Jackie, perhaps for her sheer courageousness and fierce independence. As a bail bondsman, we expect him to remain peripheral to the story, but after picking up Jackie from prison for the first time, he becomes more and more intertwined in the conflict, putting his life on the line frequently. Without his pure admiration and sympathy, Jackie would never have been able to consider pulling off the "sting." Although neither of them are morally commendable protagonists, there's still a sense of who deserves what.
The Jackson storyline with Robert De Niro in an unusual character role keeps the film stylistically akin to a Tarantino script. Jackson is the same no-nonsense character from "Pulp Fiction" only without the temper. He presents a world of trouble for Jackie, albeit one she got herself into. De Niro is out of place, probably because its weird to see him play second fiddle for an entire film. Together they set the mood and allow for the Tarantino dialogue to shine through.
"Jackie Brown" comes across as lighter Tarantino fare — except in terms of appropriate language. The story here retains an admirable simplicity, but nothing strong enough to crawl out of the shadow of "Pulp Fiction," at least not at the time, hence its reputation of being the "underrated" Tarantino film. With particularly strong characters that we like despite their moral behavior, "Jackie Brown" rates as a unique retro crime drama.
~Steven C
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