Quentin Tarantino’s movies are so unique that even though they are inspired by old movies, be it spaghetti westerns, mafia movies, kung fu flicks and so on, no one else is able to duplicate the cinematic experience of a Tarantino movie. When it comes to the conversation of his best movies, Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained always come up, but one that always seems to be left out of the conversation is Jackie Brown. This one is a bit of a sleeper and nowhere near as popular as some of the others, and I put forward that it certainly should be. It might be more low key than other Tarantino movies, but that is arguably one of its strengths. What makes Jackie Brown so compelling and why is it so often left out of the conversation when it comes to the best Tarantino movies?
I think one of the main things that hurt Jackie Brown was that it was the follow up to the enormously popular and successful Pulp Fiction. How does one top themselves let alone even attempt to match a high watermark like that movie? Quentin Tarantino’s solution? Don’t even try. There was great wisdom in not trying to duplicate Pulp Fiction, with it’s out of order sequencing, blazing originality, and it’s exceptionally cool style. Tarantino decided for, the first only time in his career thus far, to make a film based on a book, Elmore Leonard’s Rum Punch, instead of penning a completely original screenplay. He certainly put his mark on it though, changing the main character from the novel, Jackie Burke, a white forty-something flight attendent, to Jackie Brown, a black woman of the same age and occupation. This allowed him to cast the exceptional Pam Grier in the title role and tip his hat to the old blaxploitation films of the 1970s, where Grier made her name. The use of 1972s R&B/soul music is extremely effective at establishing that sort vibe as well.
The casting in Jackie Brown is utter perfection. Grier as Brown is an inspired choice. She brings a real toughness, attitude and grit to the character, along with a very sly wit and intelligence under the surface, as Jackie must have the wherewithal to hide her cunning from the other characters she decides to take on. She also brings a real vulnerability to the character, especially in her scenes with Robert Forster’s bail bondsman, Max Cherry. These two have such a natural unspoken connection and chemistry, with a real love and respect for each other. It is a real near miss romance as they really convey that they want to run off together, but each justify to themselves why that probably wouldn’t work. Forsters’s Cherry is the perfect accomplice and would be romantic interest for Brown. He is the strong silent type, contemplative, aging and experienced. Jackie is a breath of fresh air in his weary life, allowing him to escape his daily grind.
Samuel L Jackson’s Ordell Robbie is loud, obnoxious, ruthless and definitely less likeable than Jackson’s Jules character from Pulp Fiction, though I would argue no less entertaining. He likes to come off as the smart, streetwise, big shot gangster who is in control of every situation, but is in reality more of a buffoon who’s driven by his vanity as much as anything. He values money, girls cars and status. Robert De Niro’s Louis Gara, just kind of a simple, stoner ex con who is very laid back and is blindly loyal to Robbie. And let us not forget about Bridget Fonda’s stoner surfer chick, Melanie Ralston with her lazy lifestyle and defiant attitude. Rounding out the main cast is Michael Keaton’s Ray Nicolette, a cocky hotshot ATF agent out to make a name for himself.
Instead of anything driving this movie forward, it very often feels like the audience is just kind of hanging out with these characters, whether it’s listening to some classic vinyl albums with Jackie and Max, or Melanie and Louis smoking weed and watching TV or watching gun advertisements with Ordell and Louis. The conversations between these characters flow so organically that you can almost forget about the larger plot of the movie and and just kind of enjoy the company of these characters. But there is also a great plot at work in the movie.
Ordell is paying Jackie to bring back his arms dealing money from Mexico, since she regularly flies there for work. Nicolette and the ATF are on to Robbie’s operation and pinch Jackie and offer her a deal to inform on Robbie. While Robbie and Nicolette like to posture and present themselves as smarter than they are, Jackie sees the opportunity to play both sides for her own means, by seeming more innocent and less intelligent than she actually is. It becomes evident that Jackie, and by extension Max, are playing chess while everybody else is playing checkers.
The brilliance of Jackie Brown is that it is a character study, more so than it’s predecessor Pulp Fiction. This film is driven forward much more by it’s characters and conversations than by actual events. The crown jewel character of the film is Jackie Brown herself. I’m trying to think of another film where the main protagonist is an intelligent, tough, cunning, vulnerable black woman, who is able to outsmart Ordell and Nicolette on either side of her. It is a credit to Pam Grier’s acting, just how much Jackie feels like a real person. Her relationship with Cherry really allows her vulnerability and her intelligence to emerge as he is the only one she is ever really open with. I have never heard this movie discussed as a feminist movie, but it certainly is striking to me just how strong the portrayal of Jackie’s character comes across as a black woman who has the agency and capability to manipulate all of her adversaries through the course of the movie.
I don’t like to rank Tarantino’s movies, as I am often convinced that the one I am watching at the time might be the best one. They all set out to do different things for their audience. Being the next Tarantino film to be released after Pulp Fiction certainly hurt Jackie Brown, after all, how does a movie live up to the hype after such a cultural phenomenon? But I would put Jackie Brown on par with Pulp Fiction myself. Perhaps it does not have some of the iconic moments of Pulp Fiction, like the gold watch or the adrenaline needle, or countless others, but it delivers some excellent performances and characters across the board that really elevate it up to the level of Pulp Fiction.