Tarantino leaves his calling card with Elmore Leonard

Rating: 7/10 (14 February 1999)

"Jackie Brown" was pretty much what I expected, with a few notable exceptions. First of all Pam Grier did an outstanding job as the hard on her luck stewardess. In a film as filled with cinema giants as this one (Deniro, Jackson, and Keaton) is, she more than held her own. And although it is getting tiresome to see Samuel L. Jackson in foul-mouthed, "heavy", violent roles, he does do it very well. The bail-bondsman who becomes a very integral part in the film can attest to that. Many of their scenes together showed that Jackson can quite easily intimidate almost anybody.
As far as the story, it was mildly interesting, though I'm not sure if the constant flashback/different points of view really worked for me after awhile. To be fair, I did not read local favorite Leonard's novel, but the plot seemed a little disjointed to me. One thing I did like, however, were the extended scenes with good dialogue, mostly with Grier, Jackson, and the bondsman. It was an intriguing idea, a well-made movie, but it lacked something that would have made it a favorite.