Jackie Brown Movie Review

Jackie Brown (1997)

Rent Jackie Brown on Amazon Video
Written by: Quentin Tarantino (written for the screen by), Elmore Leonard (novel)
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, Robert De Niro, Chris Tucker
Rated: R
Watch the trailer

Plot
Airline stewardess Jackie finds herself in the middle of a huge conflict between her boss, an arms dealer, and an ATF agent that will either make her a profit or cost her life.

Verdict
This is a really good slow burn heist movie that is overshadowed by Tarantino's others movies. The actors and performances are engrossing. The plot has some nice twists while still toying with the timeline. Pam Grier delivers a must see performance, but all of the casting and acting is great.
Watch it.

Review

This is a solid movie. It doesn't topple any of my favorite Tarantino movies, but it's easy to dismiss this movie despite it being really good because of his other movies. I haven't seen all of Tarantino's movies recently enough to rank them all and many of them have a lot of nostalgia attached, but this is a good one.

Pam Grier plays Jackie Brown.

The movie hinges on Jackie Brown played by Pam Grier, and Grier does a great job. This movie really gives the actors a chance to act and convey emotion. Grier is at the top of her game and very cool. Even movies today don't always put a woman in such a cool role. She is the smartest and coolest character in this movie.

Samuel L. Jackson plays Ordell Robbie.

It's a slow burn story, putting all the players in place before enacting the gambit. Ordell is the ruthless arms dealer and the reason Jackie is initially arrested. Max Cherry is a bail bondsman that Jackie meets through Ordell. The ATF are also involved, and Jackie is playing all sides. She has to convince the ATF she'll give up Ordell, while convincing Ordell she won't give him up. We know what Ordell does with anyone that could jeopardize his illegal business.

There's a lot of talking in this movie, but the atmosphere and dialog maintains momentum. The characters are fun to watch. Samuel L. Jackson is magnetic as Ordell, the arms dealer. He's over the top which fits, but all the characters are good. The acting and cast is top notch. I like that De Niro took a secondary role. He does a great job with it too. Robert Forstner is Max Cherry, the closest to an audience surrogate, dedicated to his job and enamored with Jackie.

This isn't as stylish as Pulp Fiction which is why it's probably lost in the shuffle. Jackie orchestrates Ordell, Max Cherry, and the ATF into one spot, having promised them all a payoff. You wonder how this will play out. Nobody knows the full plan except for Jackie and you want her to pull this off because she is that cool.

The editing of the big show down felt like Tarantino, playing with the timelines. As we see the hand off unfold from different perspectives.

Robert Forstner plays Max Cherry.

This ends with Jackie absolutely winning and asking Max to run away with her. She slips out when he gets a phone call and he wonders if he made the right choice. Part of his thoughts have to the realization he was swept up with Jackie Brown. She was able to get him to do exactly what she wanted, and she managed to do that with all the characters. It's this moment that lets Forstner act, moments like this happen throughout the movie, and a lot of movies, even Tarantino's later works rarely slow down like this movie did.