it has been three long years since quentin tarantino stunned the cinema world by claiming the cannes film festival 's palme d'or , a $ 100 million - plus box office gross , and an oscar nomination ?
all for his sophomore outing , pulp fiction .
since then , the talented film maker has been virtually invisible , surfacing briefly as a co - director of the wildly uneven four rooms and the screenwriter of the gory vampire - fest , from dusk till dawn .
in between , he has moonlighted as an " actor " with several decidedly unmemorable performances .
now , with much fanfare and anticipation , tarantino has returned with his third directorial effort , jackie brown .
and , while this motion picture , adapted from elmore leonard 's novel , rum punch , offers solid entertainment , those expecting another bravura outing from tarantino will leave theaters disappointed .
for the most part , jackie brown is a pretty ordinary crime movie .
the story , which starts out slowly , develops into a twisty affair , with double - crosses and triple - crosses .
and the movie is littered with occasional tarantino trademarks : witty dialogue , unexpected gunfire , ' 70s pop tunes , and close - ups of womens ' bare feet .
yet , for all of that , the production is something of a letdown .
the sheer , in - your - face exuberance that marked reservoir dogs and especially pulp fiction is absent .
the mostly - straightforward chronology of jackie brown does n't match up favorably to the non - linear style of tarantino 's previous efforts ?
an approach that added tension and edginess to the narratives .
and there are n't nearly as many deliciously offbeat conversations this time around .
there 's a samuel l .
jackson monologue about guns , a jackson / chris tucker argument regarding the merits of hiding in a car trunk , and a jackson / robert de niro exchange that recalls some of the jackson / travolta material from pulp fiction , but that 's about it .
jackie brown 's lone " innovation " is its presentation of a crucial sequence from three different perspectives .
this is n't exactly an original technique ?
it has been done numerous times before , most famously in akira kurosawa 's rashomon and most recently in edward zwick 's courage under fire .
however , while in those two movies ( and others ) , there was a legitimate plot reason for the multiple points - of- view , tarantino 's sole purpose for using it
appears to be because it 's unconventional .
had the scenes in question been shown from only one of the three vantages , nothing would have been lost .
as a result , this aspect of the film is little more than a curiosity .
for the second picture in a row , tarantino is attempting to revive the career of a ' 70s icon .
this time around , instead of john travolta , it 's blaxploitation queen pam grier
( foxy brown has become jackie brown ) .
in one of many nods to the most famous segment of grier 's career , tarantino uses a ' 70s song to accompany her first appearance during the opening credits .
there are also several instances during jackie brown when the director offers a sly wink towards certain conventions of the blaxploitation genre ( although grier never does any butt - kicking ) .
grier is jackie brown , a flight attendant who gets caught transporting drugs and money into the united states .
she 's working for gun dealer ordell robbie ( samuel l . jackson ) , but she keeps her mouth shut under questioning , despite pressure from ray nicolet ( michael keaton ) , a federal official .
no longer sure whether or not he can trust jackie , ordell arranges for a bail bondsman , max cherry ( robert forster , tv 's " banyon " ) to post the necessary $ 10 , 000 , then plans to shoot jackie if she proves disloyal .
jackie passes ordell 's test , however , and soon the two of them are plotting a way to smuggle $ 500 , 000 of ordell 's money into the united states without tipping off the feds .
soon , just about everyone is after that money , including jackie , max , ray , ordell 's perpetually oversexed and drugged - out girlfriend , melanie ( bridget fonda ) , and his right - hand man , louis ( robert de niro ) .
unsurprisingly , the most memorable performance is turned in by samuel l . jackson , but ordell is n't nearly as invigorating or compelling a character as jules from pulp fiction .
in addition to looking fantastic , pam grier is also quite good , although hers is not an oscar- caliber performance ( although she might get a nomination ) .
robert forster and michael keaton are solid in their tough - guys - who - rarely- smile roles .
bridget fonda is around for three discernible reasons : to look sexy in a bikini , to provide a little twisted comedy , and to satisfy tarantino 's foot fetish .
robert de niro is criminally underused in a part that could have been played equally well by any grungy- looking , middle - aged actor .
the film , which clocks in at several minutes over the two - and - a- half hour mark , is probably too long for the material , but the plot is convoluted enough to keep us guessing throughout ( although the payoff is a letdown ) .
tarantino keeps things moving along nicely , with a heavier dose of humor and less violence than in pulp fiction , but , on the whole , this movie seems more like the work of one of his wannabes than something from the director himself .
when it comes to recent caper films ( like the grifters and bound ) , jackie brown is a second - tier effort .
it 's an entertaining diversion , but not a masterpiece , and certainly not an oscar contender .
Output: P