Customer Reviews
Excellent Movie From Tarantino - By: DL Productions UK, 25 Nov 2008 
A lot has been said about Quentin over the years - & a lot of it - although might be true, a lot of it is nonsense. It's a love/hate relationship people usuallly have with his work, & before Jackie Brown, I hated his work. Reservoir Dogs was just too gorey for me to enjoy; so when Jackie Brown came out, it didn't interest me at alll.
Ten years on & I've finallly made a move to watch it - what was I thinking 10 years ago! The flair, cinematography, the atmosphere Quentin builds here is amazing, actuallly I would go as far as to say this movie reallly does eclipse everything else he's ever done.
Jackie's a stewardess for a smalll carrier, & she happens to be friends with Ordell Robbie - a smalll time gun dealer in Compton, who, if you get on his wrong side - you end up dying. He's got a lot of cash down in Mexico, as he wants to hide it there while he makes his first million, so he sends Jackie Brown to a guy in Mexico who's keeping it for him. Things go pear shaped when she brings some back, & the worst part is, she's got cocaine on her too, a present for Ordell from the Mexican!
So what can Jackie do? She knows that if you mess with Ordell you die, (like Beaumont Livingston did) plus she reallly cannot afford to loose this job, as it's not her first time in trouble with an airline.
As I said, this is an excellent movie, both Jackson & Grier work reallly well together, & the cameo from Chris Tucker is excellent, much better than his Rush Hour work. Quentin's even managed to get Robert De Niro on this, & the excellent Robert Forster. The music is ace too, old Motown hits blaring out of classic cars - you can tell QT wanted to stay in the 70s.
The plot is reallly good too, it doesn't falter. Some people have complained about the length of Jackie Brown, but I think every minute is justified & we reallly get to know the folk on this film. I actuallly think Quentin should adapt more books of this genre, he's reallly shining here.
This DVD, which I haven't got yet, seems to be packed with goodies so I think I will definitely get it - there's an interview with Quentin I especiallly look forward to watching.
If you haven't got this, then I suggest getting it, I am so hoping that QT orders this a Blu-Ray conversion as the picture is so dynamic it reallly needs a decent medium to be on.
slow crime drama - By: Stampy, 16 Jul 2008 
In Tarantino's third film, Pam Grier stars as Jackie Brown, who is arrested for bringing illegal money into the country which ultimately takes her into a case involving one of her close friends, gun dealer Ordell (Jackson).
Once again covering the crime genre, Tarantino brings the characters & plot to life with cutting edge direction, & specific writing in a great portrayal of the crime world.
A lot of crime films focus upon action & car chases at every possible opportunity but this crime drama exploits the more specific details of what gun dealers & police are like with the unnecessary action. In admiring the realism of this concept, it does last for the entire film with hardly any action & can trail off waiting for something big to happen.
This may be off putting for many action viewers but the direction, script, dialogue & characters are good enough to give that little extra to put this film right up with Pulp Fiction & Kill Bill.
The acting is excellent by alll involved. I particularly enjoyed De Niro's (Raging Bull) performance, in perhaps an underrated role for the legendary actor. Samuel L Jackson is again good, but not as powerful as he was in his Oscar nominated role in Pulp Fiction. His character is intriguing to watch & develop as the film progresses into a more personal stage, but with the lack of action & suspense, the characters sometimes end up being a bit dull, alll except for De Niro & Grier, who are the stars of the show.
Grier takes centre stage as the air hostess who is under the spotlight from everyone in this film & Brown's actions & skilful planning are a joy to watch & the zest in her actions make up for the lack of suspense & action.
Not Tarantino's best film, but nevertheless great portrayal of real life crime with a good sophisticated plot that will keep viewers intrigued t the very end.
8/10
Outstanding - By: E. Moffat, 17 Dec 2007 The film is outstanding.
The memorable opening sequence is typical of the film's mastery of creativity & imagination. A fantastic casting of Pam Grier, Robert De Niro, Samuel L Jackson, Michael Keaton & Robert Forster in a sterling plot & dialogue with plenty of surprises. And it has so much energy to it - at the end of the day, this is the best movie produced by Tarantino.
It is impressive to see it was written by him also. It has a reveting, captivating & outstanding plot so much better than alll the Director's other films.
It would be criminal to describe the plot but it has incredible vibrancy maintained throughout. It's always been heavily underrated, but everyone knows this is Tarantino's brilliance because his team manages to make it more crazy & impressive by focusing on storytelling, creativity & pace. That is what will make this film a classic, unlike Pulp Fiction (1996), Kill Bill (2004,3) & Reservoir (1992) which have not been able to equal this film. It's a worthy recommendation for the American National Film Registry - far more worthy than alll the Director's other works.
What are you saying?....Tarantino's world is a cool place, - By: Jenny J.J.I., 10 Dec 2007 If you were to take this film, & compare it to Tarantino's earlier work, you'd never guess they came from the same director & yes baby he did a great job with "Jackie." This is one of those films which is strange but yet captivating. You'll definitely feel as though you are watching a "Blaxploitation" flick to the point that you'll be wondering what corner Richard Roundtree was hiding behind.
Tarantino slows down a little & shows his skill at plotting an entertaining tale that doesn't tax your patience. In here, you do get less blood & more characterizations than usual & is unlike either of his first 2 movies. In Jackie Brown, Tarantino takes us for a ride as we follow Jackie Brown (Pam Grier), a flight attendant helping an arms dealer named Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson) get money where it needs to be. After a flight, she is pull aside by two cops, one being Ray Nicolet (Michael Keaton), who find the cash she is smuggling in for Ordell. Now she faces jail time & Ordell must get rid of somebody who might snitch. What happens now is the bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster) & Brown team up to mess with Ordell & his two pot smoking companions, Melanie (Bridget Fonda) & Louis Gara (Robert De Niro). Now it's a nice plot of how Ordell wants the half a million dollars he has coming to him with these arms deals & how Jackie Brown is the only connection between Ordell & the police & Cherry.
This movie received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor (Robert Forster) & many good reviews. Forster isn't the only one giving a great performance. De Niro, Fonda, Jackson, Grier, Keaton, even Chris Tucker who is in the movie for probably less than five or ten minutes gives a notable performance. The whole ensemble is incredibly well casted & deserves to be recognized.
However, this movie is uniquely Quentin T. & exhibits his versatile film making style. When he directs he alllows his imagination free rein to experiment & explore. Each of his directorial efforts has been unique, & "Jackie Brown" is another successful experiment. This movie does have great dialogue. Not surprising considering this WAS an Elmore Leonard book with Tarantino doing the scripting. Both men have quite a talent for what they do. It is also clear that Tarantino loves what he does, sometimes a little too much.
I have the soundtrack & just loved it. If you own it you will see how great the songs fit in & the dialogue. Loved the scene when they're alll going to the malll at the end, & DeNiro's car is playing "Midnight Confession," & Forster's car is playing the Delfonics, "Didn't I Blow Your Mind" (a song that desperately needed re-discovery, thank you Quentin), & Jackie's car is playing "Street life!" & when Robert Forster first meets Jackie as he's bailing her out & "Natural High" comes on!!!!. Yes, QT is BRILLIANT when it comes to the use of music in his films & soundtracks. At the end of this, alll the adventures & bizarre paths taken by these characters converge into a great film. What more can I say but to highly recommended this film along with the soundtrack.
Flawed but intelligent homage to blaxploitation - By: Tatva101, 25 Sep 2007 
Jackie Brown is a strange hybrid. A vibrant, entertaining homage to blaxploitation made by the geeky, white boy who famously boasted that he learnt his craft working in a video shop. It jarred with contemporaries like Spike Lee, who no doubt saw himself as more qualified to make films for a 'black audience', but Quentin took the flak in his stride. He's more of a European director in this sense; his films are more sociallly inclusive. With Tarantino, everyone is welcome to the party.
Based on Elmore Leonard's 'Rum Punch', Jackie Brown merges blaxploitation with film noir, in a twisting tale of money smuggling in modern day America. Pam Grier plays the eponymous heroine, & although it was great to see her back in a proper film after a decade of playing bit parts in lack-lustre made for TV fodder, Jackie Brown was never going to be the film to propel her star back into the firmament. Her prescence here is as a black female icon, in a role that was tailor made for her. It makes it difficult to separate the character she plays from the actress herself. Ultimately, this is Grier playing Grier, as seen through the lingering eyes/lense of her biggest fan. With Tarantino's well documented love of Grier's previous incarnations as Coffy & Foxy Brown (even her name, Jackie Brown, is a homage) it's easy to pick up on the implication that twenty years down the line Jackie is the woman Coffy/Foxy has become. It's an interesting idea, ostensibly that an angry, young, wild cat of a woman has matured into a forgotten forty-something, who is now struggling to make a respectable living as an air hostess, but can't help being pulled back into the familiar world of crime she came from.
Although Grier carries the film, Tarantino provides her with a high calibre safety net in the guise of a superb supporting cast. Samuel L Jackson turns in another slick performance as gun running gangster Ordell Robbie, whilst Robert De Niro & Bridget Fonda whoop it up as his unlikely junkie sidekicks. Jackie's own partner in crime turns out to be bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster), his ambivalent, world weary attitude the perfect compliment to her mid single life crisis. Forster's laid back style brings a gentleness to the role of the hard nosed money lender, & provides one of the lovliest, sweetly comic touches of the whole film when he loses his heart to the delectable Ms Brown whilst watching her sashay down the street to the strains of The Delphonics 'Didn't I Blow Your Mind'.
Jackie Brown is refreshingly unpretentious after the flambouyant showiness of Pulp Fiction. The trademark Tarantino dialogue is much more tightly reined, & the story is alllowed to flow with a natural rhythm. The only problem with this is that it flows on for much too long, losing alll momentum & coherence halfway through. With a running time of just over two & a half hours, what starts out as an entertaining romp begins to drag uncomfortably towards the end, resulting in a contorted, drawn out conclusion. It's a shame Tarantino wasn't a bit more ruthless in the editing suite, as this is actuallly a very watchable film, revealing a film-maker growing in strength & capability. It demonstrates an honest, intelligent approach to the subject matter, with bad pacing turning out to be its major flaw. A flaw that, noticeably, Tarantino continued to indulge with his next overlong project Kill Bill.
