Jackie Brown

Plot synopsis:
Los Angeles,1995. Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) is a flight attendant for a small Mexican airline called Cabalas Airlines which flies only from L.A. to Cabo San Lucas, the latest step down for her career. Despite the low pay, the job enables her to smuggle money from Mexico into the United States for Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), a gun runner under the close watch of the ATF.One day, Ordell learns that another of his workers, Beaumont Livingston (Chris Tucker), has been arrested. Fearing that Livingston will become an informant in order to avoid jail time, Ordell arranges for his $10,000 bail with bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster). That same evening, Ordell promptly leads Livingston to his death by tricking him into getting into the trunk of a stolen car where Ordell shoots him to death.Acting on information Livingston had indeed shared after his arrest, ATF agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) and LAPD detective Mark Dargus (Michael Bowen) intercept Jackie as she arrives in the United States with Ordell's cash and some cocaine that Brown was unaware was stashed along with the $30,000 cash. She initially refuses to cooperate with Nicolette and Dargus, so Jackie is sent to jail on possession of drugs with intent to sell. Sensing that Jackie may be just as likely to inform as Livingston had been, Ordell goes back to Max Cherry and sets out to arrange Jackie's bail so he can plot to kill her too once she is released.That evening, Max Cherry arrives at the jail to pick Jackie up and, only partly masking his physical attraction, offers to buy her a drink and help determine her legal options. Over drinks at a local bar, Jackie senses an attraction that Max has on her, but reminds him that she is not interested. After dropping her off at her apartment, Jackie steals Max's gun that he kept hidden in his glove compartment.Later that night, Ordell arrives at Jackie's apartment apparently intending to murder her. Jackie pulls out the gun she stole/borrowed from Cherry and she holds him at gunpoint. Jackie barters a deal with Ordell whereby she will pretend to help the authorities while still managing to smuggle $500,000 of Ordell's money out of Mexico, enough to allow him to retire and flee to some distant country and retire. To carry out this plan, Ordell employs a woman he lives with, "my little blond surfer girl"; a drug-addicted beach bunny named Melanie Ralston (Bridget Fonda), plus his friend, Louis Gara (Robert De Niro), a former cellmate whom has shacked up with him. Ordell also uses a naïve Southern girl, Sheronda (Lisa Gay Hamilton) as his co-conspirator to give him an alibi for when the transaction will take place.The following day, Jackie meets at LAPD headquarters with Agent Nicolette and Detective Dargus to arrange a sting to catch Ordell. But Nicollette and Dargus are both unaware that Jackie and Ordell plan to double cross them by diverting the actual money before the authorities make an arrest. Unbeknownst to the others, Jackie plans to deceive them both with the help of Cherry in order to keep the $500,000 for herself. However, in another twist, Melanie tries to convince Louis to steal the $500,000 that Jackie will hand over to them and flee the country with the money for themselves. Though Louis agrees, he does not trust Melanie for she might take all the money for herself out of greed, while Melanie clearly suspects likewise about Louis.After a dry run, during which Nicolette could observe the operation, the stage is set for the actual event. Told from three different viewpoints (a nod to 1950s film noirs) the exchange takes place in a large shopping mall near Los Angeles (the Del Amo Fashion Center).Jackie's version: At the mall, Jackie enters the Billingsley department store where she buys a new suit and enters a dressing room. Her real intention is to swap bags there with Melanie and Louis, supposedly passing off the $500,000 under Nicolette's nose. Instead, she gives Melanie only $50,000 and leaves the rest behind in the dressing room for Max Cherry to pick up. Jackie then feigns despair as she leaves the department store and into the mall where she calls Nicolette and Dargus out from hiding and claims Melanie took all the money and ran.Louis and Melanie's version: Louis meets Melanie at Ordell's beachfront house while Ordell goes to a local bar-restaruant, called the Cockatoo Bar with Sheronda to have an alibi to his whereabouts for the day. Melanie gets on Louis case from the start when they are late for the rendevouz because Louis finds Melanie wasting time by getting high in the bathroom with smoking a basepipe. During the drive to the mall, the stoned Melanie annoys Louis more by playing loud rock music over the van radio. During the switch, Melanie enters the dressing room at Billingsley's with a brown bag of beach towels to make the switch while Louis waits outside, where he catches a glimpse of Max Cherry standing nearby. Melanie exits the dressing room with the other brown bag containing part of the cash. In the parking lot, Melanie gets on Louis' nerves more and more, which finally leads him to shoot and kill her while making their escape after she mouths off one too many times.Max Cherry's version: Max arrives at the mall alone and at the Billingsley's department store where he eyes Jackie from a distance and tries to hide when Louis and Melanie walk by to make the switch, but Louis catches a glimpse of him as they walk by. After Louis and Melanie leave the store, Jackie, pretending to be in dispair, pays for her new business suit and leaves the store. When Jackie leaves, Max approaches the sales clerk and claims that his wife left a bag in the dressing rooms for him, which Max picks up the bag containing the $500,000 cash and quietly leaves the store where he drives to his office to stash the cash before driving home.Across town, Louis then picks up Ordell from the Cockatoo Bar where he soon discovers that Louis has only $40,000 in the bag (Melanie having kept $10,000 for herself after being tricked into doing so by Jackie, which is apparently left on her dead person). Then Ordell realizes that it was Jackie who took his money, and in anger, a suspicious Ordell kills his friend Louis. He is also concerned about the involvement of Max Cherry, having been told by Louis that he spotted Max in the store before the pickup.At police headquarters, Agent Nicollette is angry with Jackie for what transpired during the pickup (Jackie apparently told him that the money that she was carrying was only $50,000, not the entire $500,000 from Ordell's secret account in Mexico). Nicollette tells Jackie about finding Melanie in the mall parking lot with $10,000 on her, and about finding Louis a short distance away in his van. Nicollette tells Jackie that she has only one more chance to cooperate with them to catch Ordell and find the rest of the money.That evening, Ordell goes to the Cockatoo Bar where Max is and pulls a gun on him and demands that he help him find Jackie who has his money. Lured back to Max's office, where Jackie is said to be frightened and waiting to hand over his money, Ordell arrives armed and dangerous. Jackie suddenly yells out that Ordell has a gun and he is shot by Nicolette, who was hidden in another room.Three days later. In the clear with the law and in possession of the $500,000, Jackie decides to leave town for a while, and she invites Max to run off with her. Max is tempted, clearly in love with her as they kiss, but he declines to go with Jackie for reasons that are left unclear.Note: There are a number of hints during the movie given by Cherry in his dialogue with Jackie about why he makes the choices he makes and does not act out of greed. Some include Max's wanting to get out of the bail bond business and find something else to do to being too old to start a new adventure in life ("I'm just tired in general...."), but his reasons for turning down an offer to run off with a woman he is obviously in love with remains intentionally ambiguous at the film's closing.

Tags: comedy, boring, neo noir, murder, suspenseful, realism, cult, violence, psychedelic, romantic, blaxploitation

Review:
The big names in the cast like De Niro, Jackson and Fonda are all very good, but the real standout performances in this movie are by 70s blaxploitation icon Pam Grier ('Coffy', 'Foxy Brown', 'Black Mama White Mama',etc.etc.) and a revelatory one from Robert Forster.
The fascinating thing about 'Jackie Brown' for me is that Tarantino's critics accuse him of making shallow and violent self-consciously hip crime films, but the central story of this movie concerns an inter-racial Middle Aged romance, something I haven't seen done in a believable or realistic fashion by Hollywood before.
Contrary to Pulp Fiction which had a very unusual editing and flashy situations, Jackie Brown focuses more on characters that are basically humans with very focused problems, for instance getting older which is an eminent theme tackled in the film.
Jackie Brown on the other hand has totally real characters that don't come off as too over the top.All the actors in the movie are superb.The lead is played by actress Pam Grier who nails the role.
But to me, thats the heart of the movie, and thats why the movie works so well.In conclusion, Jackie Brown is not a graphic crime story like Reservoir Dogs or Pulp Fiction that preceded it.
While some of the characters are as good as they need to be within the confines of the basic crime story, it is in Jackie and Max where Tarantino has grown up a bit - although in fairness this was an adaptation rather than his own script, but he still manages them better than some of his own thin characters.Following the praise for Pulp and Tarantino's ability to rejuvenate careers, he must have had no problem cherry picking for this role.
Fonda is really, really sexy and has some good lines while the rest of the cast do good work in small roles with people like Keaton, Tucker and Bowen in there.Overall I enjoy this film and can understand why it will never be loved to the extent that Pulp was and is.
The last scene in the movie between these two characters is absolutely brilliant.I highly recommend this film and it's fun to watch Tarantino mature as a director.
And Elmore Leonards stories usually fit the big screen very well, they are actually one of the rare occasions where i usually prefer the film to the novel.Tarantino sets a different mood here compared to the more frantic and violent Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction.
And when $500,000 dollars disappears from his retirement fund, Ordell stops, thinks, and arrives upon the conclusion that we all anticipate with glee: Jackie Brown did it.His partner in crime, Louis (the wonderful Robert De Niro), also decides to double-cross Ordell, with the help of a sexy blonde ditz named Melanie (Bridget Fonda), The movie's twisting plot line and intersecting story lines is very reminiscent of "Pulp Fiction," and De Niro's underrated performance is a real stand-out.
I have now seen this film a couple of times and even from my first viewing I thought this film was great and got even better the subsequent times I came around to it.Jackie Brown is definitely a left turn from Tarantino's films as it wasn't an original idea but rather he adapted Elmore Leonard's novel, other notable work include Out Of Sight and 3:10 To Yuma.
Jackson on the other hand still brings his usual style that was also found on Pulp Fiction but he changes it enough that it doesn't feel like he is repeating himself.Jackie Brown is an entertaining crime-heist film that definitely needs much more attention.
"Jackie Brown", the 1997 film starring Pam Grier as the title character, a flight attendant who smuggles cash into the country for a shady associate, Ordell (Jackson) is the third film directed by Quentin Tarantino.
Rounding out the cast is Robert Forster as Max Cherry, Jackie's bail bondsman hired by Ordell when Jackie is initially arrested by the feds, and eventual love interest, Robert DeNiro as Louis, an associate of Ordell's who is fresh out of jail and about to buy in on one of Ordell's gun selling schemes and Bridget Fonda as Melanie, one of Ordell's women, and object of both fascination and irritation for Louis."Jackie Brown" features many "Tarantinoisms" that we have come to expect from his films; slick cinematography, a soundtrack that is perfect for the film (in this case, 1970's R&B) a rich cast of eccentric characters, a solid amount of violence and even more profanity.
As John Travolta was dug up to star in "Pulp Fiction", Tarantino resurrects two 1970's actors, Robert Forster and Pam Grier, and both prove once again that there are few contemporary directors around who have better gut instincts and an eye for casting than he.
I loved seeing Michael Keaton as a hard-faced, leather jacket clad fed, and Robert DeNiro, who can chew scenery better than a lot is fantastic as the quiet, shlubby and slobby sidekick.Anyone who approached "Jackie Brown" looking for a Pulp Fiction sequel was probably either somewhat disappointed or, like me, encouraged that Tarantino can not only do flashy, but can spin a good story as well.
Before seeing his latest releases, "Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2" I lamented that he possibly took too much time off between projects, but after seeing "Vol. 1" I quickly reconsidered, saying that if he is going to consistently put out superior product, he can take as much time as he wants.And that is why I look at "Jackie Brown", a film that wasn't quite as stellar or lauded as his others with a certain amount of fondness, because it is a great piece of work, without all of the flash, bells and whistles of its predecessor.
At first look not such a good idea but coming to "Jackie Brown" several years after its more or less lukewarm initial reception (released after so-called masterpiece "Reservoir Dogs" and the inventive and infectious "Pulp Fiction", "Jackie Brown" was seen as something of a disappointment) and being able to assess it without putting in context of Tarantino's filmography, "Jackie Brown" is surprising.It is, without question, Tarantino's most mature and complete work to date as a director.
The cast is a dream for this sort of movie, and contains what is as of 2008 Robert De Niro's last truly memorable performance, the music fits perfectly, the atmosphere created is the sort you can lose yourself in for the running time of the film (which feels significantly shorter than it is), and the screenplay, with its witty exchanges, striking characters, and plentiful plot twists, keeps the viewer more than entertained.
He's certainly not completely out of his element here, there's plenty of 70's retro cool in this film, but thankfully it is contained and kept from going overboard.Expect another "Pulp Fiction" and disappointment is an understandable reaction, but if you go into this with an open mind and expect nothing in particular you might just find that "Jackie Brown" is not only Tarantino's best but one of the most entertaining films of the 90's.9.5/10.
Quentin Tarantino follow up to the hysterical response generated by his suitably hysterical first two movies was 'Jackie Brown', an altogether more restrained film that garnered a somewhat more restrained set of reviews.
Jackson plays a criminal with all of the menace and none of the charm of his character in 'Pulp Fiction', while Bridget Fonda and a (cast against type) Robert de Niro are entertaining as a pair of useless crack-heads.
Coming as it did after critical darlings Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, it's perhaps not surprising that Quentin Tarantino's next film failed to - at the time - scale those giddy heights.
Other honourable mentions must also go to Robert De Niro, bringing presence to his small part, and his unlikely but fruitful pairing with Bridget Fonda, who matches him for comical delivery.Jackie Brown clearly lacks the superficial pizazz and deconstructed narrative that wowed everyone in Pulp Fiction, but in its place there is a clear, strong story arc and a slightly more human, emotional slant.
Arguably director Quentin Tarantino's greatest film, and his third straight masterpiece in a row following the creative success of Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994), with his firm grasp of character, narrative and dramatic involvement at something approaching a career best.
Unlike the first two films aforementioned, Jackie Brown (1997) is something an obvious step-back from the hip dialog, cool violence and narrative experimentation of his more characteristic work; with a mostly straight story placing the emphasis on the dynamics of the central characters and the continual themes of middle-age hopelessness and the need for fulfilment; all of which seems fairly radical when looked at within the context of Tarantino's career as a whole, and in particular his two most recent films, Kill Bill (2003-2004) and Death Proof (2007).
Unlike the more self-aware, post-modern self-reference of those particular films, Jackie Brown is an entirely low-key affair; built around an outstanding central performance from Pam Grier and an accomplished ensemble cast that compliments the character of Jackie - as well as the theme of people living off past glories - with Tarantino capturing the action with a restraint and intelligence that many of his detractors might conveniently choose to overlook.As ever with Tarantino, the writing is intelligent enough to support both the mechanics of the plot and the reliance on character interaction, with a lot of the film simply being supported by the complicated relationships between the characters and the downtime that occurs during the more obvious moments of exposition; with the two strands coming together on a number of occasions to show these characters as fully-formed, complicated human beings trying to do right, when all along tormented by the need to succeed.
The handling of the central theme of the film, of middle-aged characters looking back to the past and seeing only the defeat of their later lives, is brilliantly conveyed by the casting of actors considered forgotten or "washed up"; with the central performance of Grier as the still sassy Jackie Brown being matched by the performance of Robert Forster as proto-love interest Max Cherry, or De Niro as the past-it career criminal, itself a sly reference perhaps to De Niro's own drop in quality over the last fifteen years.There's also fine support from Tarantino regular Samuel L.
Although the story behind Jackie Brown was adapted from an Elmore Leonard novel, Tarantino uses the already existing characters to his advantage, capitalizing on their traits to and personalities to spew forth Tarnatino-like dialogue.
The opening is more in line with his type of films, but once it gets into relationships and more complex elements of story and character, the thing just kind of drags.It's got so much good in it, with great acting and great dialouge, but Tarantino just doesn't pace it right cause he can't handle a story of this type and the movie ends up feeling a bit boring, by the time you're finished.
This movie has all of this in spades, with amazingly fleshed out characters such as the bored, middle aged and directionless two central characters who form a silent romantic bond with each other (Jackie Brown and Max Cherry), the sleazy, cowardly, cunning drug dealer Ordell, his smart-ass girl Melanie, his ex-con friend Lewis, whose laid-back characteristics conceal a fearsome dark side and troublesome detective Ray.The dialogue again works wonders throughout the movie, the acting is pitch-perfect across the board, with Pam Grier, Samuel L Jackson and Robert De Niro being as great as you'd expect them to be, and Robert Forster and Bridget Fonda delivering career best performances and the movie has some amazing sequences, my favourite being the sequence filmed from three different viewpoints, followed by the sequence that involves a promise of waffles and chicken and a car boot (no spoilers for either).
Of all Quentin's films this has the keenest attention to character, as unlike a lot of movies that have hardly one dimension to the main role, this gives a past, a present, and a future to almost the entire line up, as this is as much Ordell's (Jackson) or Max's (Forster) movie as it is Jackie's (Grier).
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.
Quentin Tarantino's much-anticipated return to film-making following "Pulp Fiction" is an intriguing character-drama about a cool-headed flight attendant in cahoots with a merciless gunrunner who ends up playing both sides of the law to save herself from going to jail.
With half a million dollars in cash as the prize, an air stewardess (Pam Grier) a gun runner (Samuel L Jackson) a bail bondsman (Robert Forster) an ex-con (Robert De Niro) a cop (Michael Keaton) and stoned beach bunny (Brigette Fonda) are all out to con one another and get their hands on the cash.The dialogue is very slick and clever throughout, and although its loaded with vulgarity; it works brilliantly.The characters are very diverse and each one is fascinating to watch, due to the great acting and the strong script.The direction equals all of Tarantino's previous work, and it blends the characters nicely into the story with craft.The story is a great slant on a commonly used theme, with more than enough twists and surprises to keep it stylish and fresh.Compared to Tarantino's other work, there is a noticeable reduction of violence in this movie, but it doesn't have a degenerative impact on the movie as a whole.Overall, Tarantino has done it again, its probably not quite as effective as Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs, but it certainly doesn't fail to entertain for a moment.8/10.
The cast is pretty much flawless - Jackson is as reliable as ever, De Niro turns in one of his best performances of the last ten years, Grier is really good in the title role and, based on his work here, I've no idea how Forster didn't become a much bigger star back in the 70s.
It was always going to be a hard act to follow classics like Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, and unfortunately Jackie Brown doesn't deliver to the standards set be Tarantinos previous efforts.
Pam Grier does a good job of playing the forty something caught up in money laundering and Samuel L Jackson delivers a great performance as Ordell, but the film unfortunately fails to grip the audience, and unlike Pulp and Dogs, this is not a film you will want to watch over and over again.BEST ACTOR: SAM JACKSON is funny, witty and truly scary as Ordell.
So she comes up with her own plan: double-cross both parties (telling the heat she's going to betray Ordell,, telling Ordell she's going to betray the heat), run away with $500,000, and buy a one-way ticket to Spain and start life anew, with lavishness.Whereas all of Tarantino's films deal with violence as part of the aesthetic, "Jackie Brown" trades pulp fervor for insanely sharp exchanges of dialogue, the only carnage occurring offscreen while the characters size each other up and entertain us with their canny games of one-oneupmanship.
"Jackie Brown", based on the novel "Rum Punch" by Elmore Leonard, was Quentin Tarantino's hotly anticipated follow-up to "Pulp Fiction".
Following the success of Reservior Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino's 3rd film, Jackie Brown, was one I was looking forward to.
Although you may think that Pam Grier and Sam Jackson are the film's stars, this movie is all about Tarantino's angle of vision into worlds most of us know nothing about (and wouldn't care for if we did).
However, in some ways, it lifted the film above expectations of the standard Tarantino production; instead of sitting there, waiting for some shocking violence, I actually payed attention to the story, which is more than what I can say for Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction(Kill Bill managed to juggle both things, Tarantino's style and a good, interesting plot perfectly, which is partly why I like it more).
Quentin Tarantino is one of the few filmmakers that will adapt a novel by a popular and well- received veteran novelist like Elmore Leonard, whose books are famous for not being adapted into very good movies, twist it into a blaxploitation homage, change the settings and a few things about the characters, and make it the best adaptation ever made of that author's work...save for Out of Sight, of course.
The movie accentuates Tarantino's love not only for cult/obscure films and pulp fiction novels but also for the forgotten movie stars.By handpicking two washed out actors like Pam Grier and Robert Forster to play the major parts in Jackie Brown, Tarantino, a self- confessed admirer of both of theirs work, took a huge big but his faith in them didn't go unrewarded as both deliver superb performances with Forster even getting his first Academy Award nomination.
Tarantino in a nutshell.Neither Grier or Forster had acted in a leading role for a long time before this film and this movie helped revitalize their careers.
Out of all the films in Tarantino's career as director, JACKIE BROWN is the one people are least likely to have seen.
Actually I saw this film before watching Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction and those two movies appeared a little disappointing to me because I was expecting to see something like in Jackie Brown.
I re-watched it and re-watched it again and realized that it wasn't supposed to be like Reservoir Dogs nor Pulp Fiction.Jackie Brown is Quentin Tarantino's most "real" film.
I wouldn't call it Tarantino's best directing job (that'd be Pulp Fiction) but it's a very good work that shows quality.Overall, Jackie Brown is a very good film, and I mean the word very.