Elmore Leonard meets Blaxploitation

Rating: 10/10 (20 December 2003)

Jackie Brown (1997/Quentin Tarantino) **** out of ****
The openings of many Tarantino films are classic. They usually began with some great dialogue at a diner or bar, and set the tone for the film itself. But with `Jackie Brown', you get the exact opposite. What you get is pretty straight forward: The rolling of the credits accompanied by a song (and a small homage to The Graduate'). But, the normal credits do set the tone for the film. They clearly state that this will be Tarantino's most normal, serious, and realistic film.
The plot is about a flight attendant (Pam Grier) who gets caught smuggling her boss's gun money into the United States. Instead of getting sent up river, she teams up with a FBI agent (Michael Keaton) and a local cop (Michael Bowen) to bust her employer (Samuel L. Jackson). But then she thinks up a plan that works toward her advantage. Along for the ride are Robert DeNiro (an ex con), Bridget Fonda (Jackson's hot and cold lover), Robert Forster (in an Academy Award Nominated performance as a burnt out bail bondsman), and Chris Tucker as a loud mouth lowlife.

Just about everything in this film is great, if not everything. Tarantino has once again gives past actors another shot at fame (Grier and especially Forster). This is Tarantino's most realistic film, probably due to the fact that the story is based on the novel `Rum Punch' by Elmore Leonard, which he adapted into an interesting caper film and blaxploitation homage. The characters are not larger than life like they were in `Pulp Fiction' and in `Reservoir Dogs', they are real people, and that is why they are so likable. The pacing is also excellent. I have read some reviews saying that it is to slow, but the pacing reflects the mood of the two main characters. Grier is tired of her dead-end job, and tired of making $16,000 a year. Forster is tired for practically the same reasons as Grier. And their tiredness is the slow pacing that most of the film has.
After watching one of the documentaries on the second disk of the DVD, I greatly respect Tarantino's casting decision of Robert Forster. He was saying that he could have easily cast someone like Gene Hackman in Forster's role, because Forster was a Z-list celebrity making films like `Vigilante' or `Maniac Cop 3'. Although he appeared in bad movies, his performances were still good. And Tarantino saw this in him, and gave him the opportunity to show the world that he was here, and that he hadn't lost his chops.
When the name Tarantino' is brought up, usually `Pulp Fiction' or `Reservoir Dogs' comes to mind. But this should not be. `Jackie Brown' is not considered as one of Tarantino's better films, and this is sad, because it is just as good (if not better) than the first two films mentioned. Excellent!
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