I welcome the newness, the fresh look of the King of Kitsch. Quentin Tarantino's new movie, Jackie Brown, is just that. Bt it's also alot more. It shows a director maturing. And a mature Quentin is a good thing indeed. Based on the book Rum Punch by Get Shorty author Elmore Leonard, Jackie Brown revives Pam Grier from a life of blaxplotation retirment, and Robert Forster, who turns in what may be the film's best performance (obviously, since it got him that Oscar nomination). Grier plays Jackie Brown, an airline stewardess and sometimes money runner for Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson, who ignites the screen as always). When ATF agent Ray Nicolet (Michael Keaton) and an LAPD officer pick Jackie up for running money, she begins to get a scheme. Robbie goes to get her bonded,and sees bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster). And soon after, Jackie is double-crossing all who try to stop her plan from working. Plus, Cherry begins to care for Jackie, and the expressions on Forster's face as he watches Jackie from afar or even talk to her is reminiscent of a lonely little boy in elemenatry school, eager for the popualr girl's attention. Also along for the ride in this Tarantino epic is Robert DeNiro, suprisingly subdued, as Louis Gara, Ordell's cronie from the days of yesteryear, and Bridget Fonda as Melanie, Ordell's pot-smoking, sex-obsessed, tan beach bunny. One clever scene involves a conversation and a photo between DeNiro and Fonda. It is perfectly Tarantino. There are many other memorable moments, like a POV shoot from three different people. All in all, Quentin Tarantino's latest film is a winner, and makes one salivate for his next project. (and the play he's in now, Wait Until Dark) What else would you expect from the Master of Witty Dialogue? One of the best films of 1997, and definitely one of the very slim films of recent years that makes you wish that the film would never end.
JACKIE BROWN
MPAA CLASSIFICATION: (R)
RATING: **** (out of four)
RUNNING TIME: 152 min.
(c) 1998 MSTFAN Productions All Rights Reserved
Jason Bacon
bacon4@bellsouth.net
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