Jackie Brown

Jackie Brown is a film by Quentin Tarantino--a man infatuated with certain genres of film like Blaxploitation. Tarantino has a practically encyclopedic knowledge of film, and his knowledge is not all exclusive to just that, for his skill as a director allows him to implicate certain aspects of blaxploitation within Jackie Brown. For the film, he uses Pam Grier (a star of the 70's blaxploitation films), who brings a great and real quality to the movie. She traffics coke and other illegal substances from Mexico as a flight attendant. Her boss is played by the unique Samuel L. Jackson. Jackson's character and his friend (Robert De Niro) laze about like the characters in the Coen Brother's Big Lebowski. They watch tv of girls with guns, and every once in a while get a nice thrill (like from the floozy played by Bridget Fonda). One day, Jackie (Grier) is picked up by the feds, and is prompted to give up her employers. However, she is so smart, that she outwits everyone, except, perhaps, a bail bondsman played by Robert Forster. Jackie Brown is based on a novel by the great Elmore Leonard. Thus, its storyline is defined, and the payoffs are quite worthwhile. The translation to screen works quite well too. It builds tension, it presents colorful Tarantinian characters with biting dialogue. If the film has a fault, it is that it is long. Other than that, it is well acted, has a nice flare, and it is well directed.
Jackie Brown: ✰✰✰1/2