A different side of Tarantino

Rating: 10/10 (20 April 2002)

This was the second movie by Tarantino that I ever saw, the first being 'Reservoir Dogs'. After having been amazed by every second of 'Reservoir Dogs' (pop culture references, great dilaogue, cool minimalistic action, unconventional character development), 'Jackie Brown' seemed very bland, and dragged on way too long. I was younger then and hungry for brain candy rather than any real themes, especially about getting old and not having anything to show for it. So I labeled this proof that Tarantino could make a mediocre film. Now, after a second viewing, a few years and many lessons and heartbreaks and shattered dreams and heavy depressions later, this film really spoke to me. This is a much more subtle film than any of the others Tarantino has been involved in. The characters don't babble on about meaningless topics to no avail, but rather they speak about their desires and ambitions, and often not very in depth. There is a lot about these characters that we have to figure out by reading the little there is on the surface, but they seem less contrived. In Reservoir Dogs, each character is built up to be a certain type so that they can play a certain role in the crumbling of the jewel heist. Here in 'Jackie Brown' we often haven't pinned down what a character is like until after they've acted. The relationship between DeNiro and Fonda's characters is especially interesting because they do a complete turnaround in their attitudes towards eachother, even though DeNiro's performance wasn't one of his better outtings. Grier and Forster manage a mostly platonic interracial relationship that we do not see very often, even in modern cinema. Tarantino shows signs of maturing visually here as well, especially the shot he uses for the demise of Beaumont, but I don't want to reveal anything for those who've not seen it. Anyway, 9/10.