Jackie Brown (1997)
★★½ — Jackie Brown (1997)
Quentin Tarantino's third feature arrived in late 1997, two years after the cultural juggernaut of Pulp Fiction and at a point where the pressure on him to repeat that trick was considerable. Rather than writing an original screenplay, he adapted Rum Punch (1992), a novel by Elmore Leonard, marking his only adaptation to date and a deliberate pivot toward something more grounded and character-led. The casting of Pam Grier was an explicit homage to the blaxploitation films of the 1970s she had defined, particularly Coffy and Foxy Brown, and the film sits comfortably within that affectionate revisionism. Produced through Tarantino's own A Band Apart company and released by Miramax at a modest $12 million budget, it performed respectably at the box office without approaching the hysteria that had surrounded his previous work.
2nd worst Tarantino film. Look, I love Tarantino. The man could make a two-hour film about people arguing over sandwich toppings, and it’d probably still be entertaining. But Jackie Brown? It’s just... fine. The cast is stacked, Pam Grier is a good choice of lead here and she carries the film well. The soundtrack is chef’s kiss (as you'd expect from Tarantino) but the pacing drags. This isn’t the witty, razor-sharp Tarantino of Pulp Fiction or Kill Bill. It’s a slow burn, and at times, it’s just too slow. There are great moments sprinkled throughout, but they never quite come together into something amazing. Maybe I just wanted more style, more energy, more Tarantino. Not bad, just not memorable.
Rating: ★★½ | Year: 1997 | Watched: 2005-03-03
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from Quentin Tarantino: Once Upon a Time... in Hollywood (2019) · Inglourious Basterds (2009) · Pulp Fiction (1994) · Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)
More from the 1990s: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · Blue (1993) · Cemetery Man (1994)
More crime: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Angst (1983) · Stolen Face (1952) · Cairo Station (1958)
More drama: Viy (1967) · Wonder (2017) · A Better Tomorrow (1986) · Beautiful Boy (2018)
