The Tarantino Pentathlon Part 4 - Through his eyes, but not by his hand: Jackie Brown

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2004)

Different, but the same

Jackie Brown was the first (and until now the only) film that was directed by Quentin Tarantino, but written by someone else. The film was based on a novel by Elmore Leonard called Rum Punch. Now despite the fact that Tarantino did not write th e story of the film itself, his hand is very visible in the dialog. There are lines and conversations in this film that I consider to be typical of Quentin Tarantino (the same phenomenon can be found in From Dusk till Dawn). These conversations are mostly about nothing or do not really matter as far as the plot goes, but still they are interesting and entertaining to see,because they are gripping and sometimes even funny in their simplicity. I truly believe that the reason for Tarantino's brilliance partly stems from the fact, that he does not hide the amount of ridiculous conversations a human being has on a day. He shows us just how often we do that and he sometimes even exaggerates it. I must say though, that in this film, he stays on the normal side of conversations and despite the fact that there are some Tarantino tendencies to be found in the conversations, the man himself does not go quite as far as in his preceding two directorial offerings.

Now Jackie Brown has what you might call an ensemble cast, with Robert DeNiro, Samuel L.Jackson, Michael Keaton, Bridget Fonda and Pam Grier, but that does not suffice to make a film good of entertaining. In my opinion Heat would be a pretty good example. That film had lots of names attached to it, but did not get much further than mediocrity. This film is different though. The actors have all been perfectly matched to the characters they are supposed to play. There was no actor or actress here that made an Academy Award winning performance, but every actor (including Chris Tucker) got his part down good. I was really impressed, especially by Pam Grier. Now I don't really now any of her other work, but judging from the sort of films she made, I would not assume that she could play that well. I guess it just all depends on the part you get and the director you work with.

This film has a running time of 150 minutes, which I would say is pretty much for an ordinary Gangster film without too much action, but throughout the entire experience there never ever is one part that is too long. Everything done in this film is done with some thought and every scene is made perfect by the chemistry of the subtle camera movement, the actors and the music. Now I'm not the sort of folk you would catch listening to any of the music played in this film, but I felt that they underscored the events taking place on screen to maximum effect. Tarantino has really emphasized that he is the master when it comes to combining picture and songs to enhance the impact of the film. The music is not there to sell the soundtrack, as is the case with films like Daredevil or The Blair Witch Project 2, it is there to make you feel the movie. Tarantino does not want you to watch his film. He wants you to experience it. Jackie Brown may not be as thrilling as Reservoir Dogs and it may not be as cool and mysterious as Pulp Fiction, but it still is an enjoyable experience. There are many directors out there who would love to have a film this good on their resume (not to mention the cast) and still Jackie Brown is not as good as Tarantino's preceding directorial offerings.

7,5 out of 10