Jackie Brown (1997)

Pam Grier = Awesome, 17 April 2005

Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) is a flight attendant who gets busted when returning from Mexico with cash and cocaine. She works out a deal with the police to help them catch her boss, Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) in return from her freedom. Ordell has $500,000 in Mexico that Jackie is to bring to him. But there are a lot of people who want that money - the police, Ordell, Ordell's girlfriend, and even Jackie. Who is going to scam who to get their hands on the money?

Until I saw Jackie Brown, I had a hard time believing that any Tarantino film could top Kill Bill. Now, I'm not so sure. I need to revisit Kill Bill to be sure. Jackie Brown is a more "grown-up" film than most of his other works. It doesn't try as hard to be cool like Pulp Fiction and it doesn't try to be as violent as Kill Bill. Oh, the coolness and violence is there, but Jackie Brown is more about the story and characters than either of those films. It's a more subdued film that is a nice change of pace from what I had expected from Tarantino.

For me, Jackie Brown works because of two things - a good script and excellent acting. I'll start with the script. Tarantino may be one of the most self-absorbed jerks on the planet, but he certainly can write a script. The characters in Jackie Brown talk like real people. They're not like a lot of movie characters that seem so unreal you are unable imagine beyond the confines of the movie. These people are smart, clever, and capable of showing real emotion. It doesn't hurt any that Tarantino had good source material in the form of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch.

As for the acting, Pam Grier is AWESOME. I've seen a few of her movies from the 70s, but now I'm inspired to track them all down. She's cool, tough, vulnerable, and afraid - all at the same time. Kudos to Tarantino for taking a chance on an actress without the big Hollywood name. When you add Robert De Niro, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Michael Keaton, Bridget Fonda, and the rest, you've got an all-star cast that, for once, lives up to the hype.

Another thing I've always enjoyed about Tarantino's movies is the music. The soundtrack to Jackie Brown may be the best.

9/10