Slow moving crime drama, not as much action as Pulp Fiction

Rating: 8/10 (16 July 2008)

In Tarantino's third film, Pam Grier stars as Jackie Brown, who is arrested for bringing illegal money into the country which ultimately takes her into a case involving one of her close friends, gun dealer Ordell (Jackson).
Once again covering the crime genre, Tarantino brings the characters and plot to life with cutting edge direction, and specific writing in a great portrayal of the crime world.
A lot of crime films focus upon action and car chases at every possible opportunity but this crime drama exploits the more specific details of what gun dealers and police are like with the unnecessary action. In admiring the realism of this concept, it does last for the entire film with hardly any action and can trail off waiting for something big to happen.
This may be off putting for many action viewers but the direction, script, dialogue and characters are good enough to give that little extra to put this film right up with Pulp Fiction and Kill Bill.
The acting is excellent by all involved. I particularly enjoyed De Niro's (Raging Bull) performance, in perhaps an underrated role for the legendary actor. Samuel L Jackson is again good, but not as powerful as he was in his Oscar nominated role in Pulp Fiction. His character is intriguing to watch and develop as the film progresses into a more personal stage, but with the lack of action and suspense, the characters sometimes end up being a bit dull, all except for De Niro and Grier, who are the stars of the show.
Grier takes centre stage as the air hostess who is under the spotlight from everyone in this film and Brown's actions and skillful planning are a joy to watch and the zest in her actions make up for the lack of suspense and action.
Not Tarantino's best film, but nevertheless great portrayal of real life crime with a good sophisticated plot that will keep viewers intrigued t the very end.