Jackie Brown

Story

The curiosity of Quentin Tarantino's Jackie Brown is Robert Forster's worldly wise bail bondsman Max Cherry, the most alive character in this adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch. The Academy Awards saw it the same way, giving Forster the film's only nomination. The film is more "rum" than "punch" and will certainly disappoint those who are looking for Tarantino's trademark style. This movie is a slow, decaffeinated story of six characters glued to a half million dollars brought illegally into the country. The money belongs to Ordell (Samuel L. Jackson), a gunrunner just bright enough to control his universe and do his own dirty work. His just-paroled friend--a loose term with Ordell--Louis (Robert De Niro) is just taking up space and could be interested in the money. However, his loyalties are in question between his old partner and Ordell's doped-up girl (Bridget Fonda). Certainly Fed Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) wants to arrest Ordell with the illegal money. The key is the title character, a late-40s-ish flight attendant (Pam Grier) who can pull her own weight and soon has both sides believing she's working for them. The end result is rarely in doubt, and what is left is two hours of Tarantino's expert dialogue as he moves his characters around town.

Tarantino changed the race of Jackie and Ordell, a move that means little except that it allows Tarantino to heap on black culture and language, something he has a gift and passion for. He said this film is for an older audience although the language and drug use may put them off. The film is not a salute to Grier's blaxploitation films beyond the musical score. Unexpectedly the most fascinating scenes are between Grier and Forster: two neo-stars glowing in the limelight of their first major Hollywood film after decades of work. --Doug Thomas

DVD Features

• Color
• Closed-captioned
• Widescreen
• Dolby

Cast

Pam Grier	Jackie Brown
Samuel L. Jackson	Ordell Robbie
Robert Forster	Max Cherry
Bridget Fonda	Melanie Ralston
Michael Keaton	Ray Nicolette
Robert De Niro	Louis Gara
Michael Bowen	Mark Dargus
Chris Tucker	Beaumont Livingston
Lisa Gay Hamilton	Sheronda
Tommy 'Tiny' Lister	Winston (as Tommy 'Tiny' Lister Jr.)
Hattie Winston	Simone
Sid Haig	Judge
Aimee Graham	Amy - Billingsley Sales Girl
Ellis Williams	Cockatoo Bartender (as Ellis E. Williams)
Tangie Ambrose	Billingsley Sales Girl #2
T'Keyah Crystal Keymáh	Raynelle - Ordell's Junkie Friend (as T'Keyah Crystal Keymah)
Venessia Valentino	Cabo Flight Attendant
Diana Uribe	Anita Lopez
Renee Kelly	Cocktail Waitress
Elizabeth MIcInerney	Bartender at Sam's
Colleen Mayne	Girl at Security Gate
Laura Lovelace	Steakhouse Waitress
Christine Lydon	Tec-9 Sidney - Chicks Who Love Guns (as Christine Lydon M.D.)
Julia Ervin	Steyr AUG Cindy - Chicks Who Love Guns
Juliet Long	AK-47 Gloria - Chicks Who Love Guns
Michelle Berube	Baretta 12S Brittany - Chicks Who Love Guns
Gillian Iliana Waters	Mossberg 500 Tammy Jo - Chicks Who Love Guns (as Gillian Iliana-Waters)
Candice Briese	The Deputy
Gary Mann	The Deputy
Jeffrey Deedrick	The Sheriff
Roy Nesvold	The Sheriff
Herbert Hans Wilmsen	The Sheriff
Denise Crosby	Public Defender (uncredited)
Glendon Rich	Restaurant Regular (uncredited)
Mary Ann Schimidt	Flight Attendant (uncredited)
Quentin Tarantino	Answering Machine Voice (voice) (uncredited)