JACKIE BROWN (Miramax) Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton, Robert DeNiro. Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino, based on the novel "Rum Punch" by Elmore Leonard. Producer: Lawrence Bender. Director: Quentin Tarantino. MPAA Rating: R (profanity, violence, drug use, sexual situations) Running Time: 155 minutes. Reviewed by Scott Renshaw.
In the three years since PULP FICTION dazzled critics, raked in $100 million at the box office and polarized Academy voters, it has become fashionable to brand Quentin Tarantino with that favored label of contrarian pundits everywhere: "over-rated." Many film buffs dismissed him as a cinematic plagiarist or a profane wordsmith drunk on his own familiarity with pop culture; his attempts at acting (DESTINY TURNS ON THE RADIO, FROM DUSK TILL DAWN) were viewed as ego run amok. With a three year output behind the camera consisting of one "E/R" episode and a lackluster segment of the ill-advised FOUR ROOMS, it was easy to start asking questions. Had the Flavor of the Month lost his flavor on the bedpost overnight?
A lot of those same folks are going to see JACKIE BROWN as a validation of their suspicions. After all, it's not the kind of dizzying, heart-stopping morality-play-disguised-as-nihilism PULP FICTION was. It's simply a well-crafted Elmore Leonard caper (based on his novel "Rum Punch") about a middle-aged flight attendant named Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) caught in a tight spot. Nailed by ATF agent Ray Nicolet (Michael Keaton) for transporting cash and cocaine into the country from Mexico, Jackie faces jail time unless she's willing to give up the man she's acting as courier for. That man is Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), a gun-runner who has already shown a reluctance to let potential snitches remain among the living. Faced with a no-win situation, Jackie decides she wants to win anyway, elisting the aid of bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster) in a sting where she hopes everyone but her will get stung.
Both fans and foes of Tarantino tend to fixate on his writing, but JACKIE BROWN may prove once and for all that the man is a remarkably talented film director. He does things with his camera that keep viewers off-balance, while avoiding the swooping ostentation of many young film-makers. At times, he will linger on a shot just after a character has moved out of frame; at other times, he may shoot a conversation from behind the characters' backs. In one hilariously perfect scene, he uses complete darkness to build tension, complemented by an expertly handled split-screen to deliver the punch line. He directs a scene with such confidence that he can convince a viewer to follow wherever he's leading, because it always seems to be somewhere slightly unexpected.
He's also got a gift for directing actors most directors will never have. John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson and Bruce Willis gave the performances of their careers in PULP FICTION; even Uma Thurman had an uncommon intensity. In JACKIE BROWN, Tarantino resurrects the careers of not one, but two forgotten actors of the 1970s. Most of the press has gone to Pam Grier, still looking as Foxy as she did in the 70s as she plays nobody's-victim Jackie. Grier does fine work, but it's Robert Forster who breaks out of JACKIE BROWN with a superb performance. A veteran of B-grade cop shows like "Nakia" and "Banyon," Forster plays the world-weary Cherry with natural charisma and a touching affection for Jackie. In a cast full of heavy hitters like Samuel L. Jackson and Robert DeNiro (both of whom are also top-notch), Grier and Forster make an unexpected romance between two people past their Hollywood-pretty prime funny, sexy and convincing.
It's true that JACKIE BROWN includes plenty of familiar elements from previous Tarantino efforts: bursts of unpredictable violence, twelve-letter profanities by the truck-load, non-linear narrative, creative use of old songs (doing for "Strawberry Letter #23" what RESERVOIR DOGS did for "Stuck in the Middle With You"). It's also true that JACKIE BROWN moves at the kind of measured pace which could have some Tarantino fans tapping their toes with impatience. It's not an instant classic, just a sharp piece of entertainment with the kind of tightly-structured script you wish Tarantino could teach to other writers. I found it hard not to smile virtually from start to finish in JACKIE BROWN -- not because it's constantly amusing, but because it's such a pleasure to be in the hands of someone who knows how to use the medium. Even if it's an over-rated, plagiarizing Flavor of the Month like Quentin Tarantino.
On the Renshaw scale of 0 to 10 flavors of the month: 8.
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