Jackson, as Ordell, does a harder, colder version of his hit man in "Pulp Fiction,'' and once again uses the N-word like an obsession or a mantra (that gets a little old). Robert Forster has the role of a career as the bail bondsman, matter of fact about his job and the law he's a plausible professional, not a plot stooge. Pam Grier, the goddess of 1970s tough-girl pictures, here finds just the right note for Jackie Brown she's tired and desperate. If Tarantino's strengths are dialogue and plotting, his gift is casting.
#WATCH MOVIE JACKIE BROWN ONLINE FREE FREE#
The sides of the film's canvas are free to expand when it's necessary. Max Cherry has a partner (Tommy "Tiny'' Lister Jr.) who is referred to long before he goes into action. Ordell has women stashed all over Southern California, including a dim runaway from the South who he keeps in Glenwood, which he has told her is Hollywood. In "Jackie Brown,'' as in "Pulp Fiction,'' we get the sense that the characters live in spacious worlds and know a lot of people (in most thrillers the characters only know one another). And their attraction stays on an unspoken level, which makes it all the more intriguing. Jackie takes the help without quite acknowledging it. Max silently guesses part of what Jackie is up to and provides a little crucial help. Tarantino reasonably believes that during a period when everyone's in danger and no one's leveling about their real motives, such an episode would be unlikely. In a lesser thriller, there would be a sex scene. The unfolding of this idea, which involves a lot of improvisation, occupies the rest of the movie.Īt the heart of the story is the affection that grows between Jackie and Max. Maybe she could kill Ordell first, but she's not a killer, and besides, she has a better idea. Jackie knows Ordell will kill her before she can cut a deal with the law. Ordell has Jackie bailed out by Max Cherry (Robert Forster), a bondsman who falls in love the moment he sees her, but keeps that knowledge to himself. So they know Jackie is coming in with $500,000 of Ordell's money, and bust her. Beaumont ( Chris Tucker), one of Ordell's hirelings, gets busted by an ATF agent (Keaton) and a local cop ( Michael Bowen). Jackie Brown, 44 years old, is an attendant on the worst airline in North America, and supplements her meager salary by smuggling cash from Mexico to Los Angeles for Ordell, who is a gun dealer. It has a plot, all right, but not as the whole purpose of the film. The moment when Jackie Brown uses one line of dialogue, perfectly timed, to solve all of her problems. The scene where a man comes around in the morning to get back the gun a woman borrowed the night before. The scene where a nagging woman makes one suggestion too many. The scene where one character lures another to his death by tempting him with chicken and waffles. Tarantino has a lot of good scenes in this movie. There is a scene here that involves the ex-con Louis ( Robert De Niro) and Ordell's druggie mistress ( Bridget Fonda) discussing a photograph pinned to the wall, and it's so perfectly written, timed and played that I applauded it.
It's not a retread of " Reservoir Dogs" or " Pulp Fiction," but a new film in a new style, and it evokes the particular magic of Elmore Leonard-who elevates the crime novel to a form of sociological comedy. This is the movie that proves Tarantino is the real thing, and not just a two-film wonder boy. The final scenes unfold in a cloud of delight, as the audience watches all of the threads come together. Everyone has a pretty good idea of exactly what's happening: They just can't figure it out fast enough to stay ahead of Jackie. So she thinks hard, and so do a bail bondsman ( Robert Forster) and an ATF agent ( Michael Keaton). Jackson) will pop her, just like that guy they found in the trunk of a car. Jackie ( Pam Grier) knows she needs to pull off a flawless scam, or she'll be dead.