Street life... street life...

Rating: 9/10 (23 July 2012)

Jackie Brown is a crowning stylistic achievement that merges the 90s crime film with the low-budget exploitation films of the 70s. That sounds like it could be the kind of kitsch that Tarantino's next couple of films would fall into, but here it works beautifully, and seems like a perfectly natural style to make a film in. It's old school without ever being old-fashioned.
The story is fairly complex, revolving around a money-exporting operation and the small fry that get caught up in it and then decide to go into business for themselves. Pam Grier is a likable heroine, and it's quite refreshing to see a middle-aged black woman in the starring role, but it's Robert Forster as her bail bondsman partner that really steals the show. He makes me want to watch a TV show about bailing people out of jail, which is something that never would have occurred to me before.
In the end, there isn't a lot of significance to this story or the way it's told: it's just a very well-done crime film with a fantastic cast, a knowing but not excessive sense of humour, and some charming music. Everything fits together more or less perfectly, and though it's almost 150 minutes it doesn't drag. Not a life-changer, but it can make for a very good afternoon.