Watching "Jackie Brown" for the second time, still somewhat confused from its intricate plot of criminal double crosses, I was reminded of "Get Shorty", which had the same bewildering complexity. It turns out that both films were based on novels by Elmore Leonard, with "Jackie Brown" an adaptation of "Rum Punch". But "Get Shorty" was a much lighter film, while "Jackie Brown" is more tense and violent.
"Jackie Brown", of course, is the third film
fortunate enough to have the talents of Quentin
Tarantino both as a director and screenwriter.
(We won't count "Four Rooms", a.k.a. "Four
Directors") Elements present in the first two
films are here as well. There is rampant violence
and obscenities, imaginative casting, scenes
taken out of chronological order, heavy doses of
pop oldies and outstanding dialogue. While
"Jackie Brown" may not be as great as "Reservoir
Dogs", it may actually be better than the
deservedly much-lauded "Pulp Fiction", and has to
be considered to be a nearly complete success.
The title character, an airline stewardess in her
forties, is played by Pam Grier. She works with
violent and talkative arms merchant Samuel L.
Jackson smuggling currency into the country.
Jackson has several rental properties, sharing
them with girlfriends Bridget Fonda, Lisa Gay
Hamilton, and Hattie Winston. (Fonda fans will be
glad to learn that her druggie "surfer girl"
character gets much screen time and shows much
skin.) Robert DeNiro shows up as Jackson's
brooding assistant.
Grier is busted by cop Michael Bowen and ATF
agent Michael Keaton. Grier, with her liberty,
career and life at stake, devises an elaborate
scheme with lovestruck bailbondsman Robert
Forster. Can she recover the illicit money, and
keep it from both the cops and revenge-minded
Jackson?
The score is loaded with pop-soul oldies from the
1970s, one of the best of which, "Long Time
Woman" is performed by Pam Grier herself.
Tarantino, despite casting African-Americans in
the two most important roles, came under
criticism for the script's heavy use of the
n-word. In my ever-ready opinion, this word is in
the same category for a screenplay as an
expletive, meaning that it can be readily abused
but also can be powerful in the proper context.
In Tarantino films, expletives are typically used
by violent and desperate criminals, a context
which seems appropriate. I don't believe that
Tarantino's films promote violence either. Like
old gangster flicks starring James Cagney or
Edward G. Robinson, the proponents are
unredeeming and tend to meet death by their own
measures. (83/100)
Quentin Tarantino returns to the crime genre once again with this adaptation of Elmore Leonard's RUM PUNCH. Transplanting Leonard's crime story from M...More at Family Video
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