Jackie Brown

 

 

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If you were to take this film, and compare it to Tarantino's earlier work, you'd never guess they came from the same director and yes baby he did a great job with "Jackie." This is one of those films which is strange but yet captivating. You'll definitely feel as though you are watching a "Blaxploitation" flick to the point that you'll be wondering what corner Richard Roundtree was hiding behind.

Tarantino slows down a little and shows his skill at plotting an entertaining tale that doesn't tax your patience. In here, you do get less blood and more characterizations than usual and is unlike either of his first 2 movies. In Jackie Brown, Tarantino takes us for a ride as we follow Jackie Brown (Pam Grier), a flight attendant helping an arms dealer named Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) get money where it needs to be. After a flight, she is pull aside by two cops, one being Ray Nicolet (Michael Keaton), who find the cash she is smuggling in for Ordell. Now she faces jail time and Ordell must get rid of somebody who might snitch. What happens now is the bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster) and Brown team up to mess with Ordell and his two pot smoking companions, Melanie (Bridget Fonda) and Louis Gara (Robert De Niro). Now it's a nice plot of how Ordell wants the half a million dollars he has coming to him with these arms deals and how Jackie Brown is the only connection between Ordell and the police and Cherry.

This movie received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Robert Forster) and many good reviews. Forster isn't the only one giving a great performance. De Niro, Fonda, Jackson, Grier, Keaton, even Chris Tucker who is in the movie for probably less than five or ten minutes gives a notable performance. The whole ensemble is incredibly well casted and deserves to be recognized.

However, this movie is uniquely Quentin T. and exhibits his versatile film making style. When he directs he allows his imagination free rein to experiment and explore. Each of his directorial efforts has been unique, and "Jackie Brown" is another successful experiment. This movie does have great dialogue. Not surprising considering this WAS an Elmore Leonard book with Tarantino doing the scripting. Both men have quite a talent for what they do. It is also clear that Tarantino loves what he does, sometimes a little too much.

I have the soundtrack and just loved it. If you own it you will see how great the songs fit in and the dialogue. Loved the scene when they're all going to the mall at the end, and DeNiro's car is playing "Midnight Confession," and Forster's car is playing the Delfonics, "Didn't I Blow Your Mind" (a song that desperately needed re-discovery, thank you Quentin), and Jackie's car is playing "Street life!" and when Robert Forster first meets Jackie as he's bailing her out and "Natural High" comes on!!!!. Yes, QT is BRILLIANT when it comes to the use of music in his films and soundtracks. At the end of this, all the adventures and bizarre paths taken by these characters converge into a great film. What more can I say but to highly recommended this film along with the soundtrack.

I love this movie, but the widescreen version isn't widescreen, it is fullscreen with black bars that erase the top and bottom of the picture. See also my reviews of the Shawshank Redemption DVD as it is also flawed. Compare the two versions of Jackie Brown. It is easy enough to see in the scene where Bridgit Fonda services Robert DeNiro. Her buns disappear in the widescreen version but are fully visible in the fullscreen version. I took both these "widescreen" items back to the point of purchase, demonstrated the difference and was promptly granted a refund. We should check our 1.85-1 ratio videos to see what other movies are flawed.

Tarantino did a great job with Jackie Brown. This is one of those films which is strange but yet captivating. You'll definitely feel as though you are watching a "Blaxploitation" flick from the 1970's. Almost to the point that you'll be wondering what corner Richard Roundtree was hiding behind.

Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Michael Keaton and De Niro are all stellar as the extreme characters they play in this movie which focuses on lost drug money. Tarantino slows down a little and shows his skill at plotting an entertaining tale that doesn't tax your patience. In here, you do get less blood and more characterizations than usual and is unlike either of his first 2 movies.

However, this movie is uniquely Quentin T. and exhibits his versatile film making style. When he directs he allows his imagination free rein to experiment and explore. Each of his directorial efforts has been unique, and "Jackie Brown" is another successful experiment. This movie does have a very good dialogue. Not surprising considering this WAS an Elmore Leonard book with Tarantino doing the scripting. Both men have quite a talent for what they do. It is also clear that Tarantino loves what he does, sometimes a little too much.

At the end of this, all the adventures and bizarre paths taken by these characters converge into a great film. Highly recommended along with the soundtrack.

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5.0 out of 5 stars greatest movie ever
i really enjoyed this movie, the plot is really slick and its on my top 25 list. The way jackie manuvers her plan throughout the movie puts Tarantino on the top of my... Read more

Published on Sep 30 2004 by Lauren

5.0 out of 5 stars Great! Awesome! Fantastic!
Nobody and I mean nobody makes movies like Quentin Tarantino. JACKIE BROWN is one of the greatest movies of all time. Read more

Published on July 13 2004

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, De Niro is fun
Jackie Brown is certainly not Tarantino's best but it is amusing. As in pretty much every movie Samuel L Jackson plays a pretty important part as a gunrunner. Read more

Published on July 5 2004 by M. Buisman

5.0 out of 5 stars Not quite PULP FICTION, but certainly worthy Tarantino
I love Quentin Tarantino. You watch him speak about his art in interviews, and while I realize what I'm responding to might simply be a cleverly-wrought public persona, his energy... Read more

Published on Jun 19 2004 by Kenji Fujishima

5.0 out of 5 stars Tarantino is the man
Jackie Brown is the third film from Quentein Tarantino. The pop cultre master has made another perfect film, and put simply this guy is the man. Read more

Published on Jun 17 2004 by Matthew Edmundson

2.0 out of 5 stars I didn't like it.
After seeing the brilliant "Pulp fiction" I went and had a look at the trailer for "Jackie Brwon", it looked good -- but think again. Read more

Published on Jun 3 2004 by P. Woods

4.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Profanity Probably Cost Robert Forster an Oscar
I happened to watch this movie in an un-cut version and I must admit that I was bothered by the overwelming use of vulgar profanity. Read more

Published on May 31 2004 by Randy Keehn

4.0 out of 5 stars Bridget Fonda is hot!
I am a huge fan of Elmore Leonard, the author of "Rum Punch," the novel on which this movie was based, so naturally, I had high expectations. Read more

Published on May 18 2004 by John Candy

5.0 out of 5 stars ak 47......
"ak 47...when you absolutly have to kill every goddamn muthaf**ker in the room!" this movie has a great storyline and i love how tarantino doesn't tell the story... Read more

Published on May 7 2004 by badfish_313

3.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate player movie
This movie is probably the ultimate player flick that I've ever seen. But I really think you have to be a true player to appreciate this, so once again, I'm sorry, but Quentin... Read more

Published on May 6 2004 by Wolfe Moffat

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