Jackie Brown (1997)

Jackie Brown: Directed by Quentin Tarantino. With Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda. A middle-aged woman finds herself in the middle of a huge conflict that will either make her a profit or cost her life.

“Quentin Tarantino takes on Elmore Leonard? At first look not such a good idea but coming to u0026quot;Jackie Brownu0026quot; several years after its more or less lukewarm initial reception (released after so-called masterpiece u0026quot;Reservoir Dogsu0026quot; and the inventive and infectious u0026quot;Pulp Fictionu0026quot;, u0026quot;Jackie Brownu0026quot; was seen as something of a disappointment) and being able to assess it without putting in context of Tarantinou0026#39;s filmography, u0026quot;Jackie Brownu0026quot; is surprising.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIt is, without question, Tarantinou0026#39;s most mature and complete work to date as a director. Mature in the sense that Tarantino here is not preoccupied with u0026#39;homagesu0026#39;, references, style (not too much, at least), or indulging himself in his fantasies. Tarantino, for once, is primarily a storyteller, and the approach works stunningly well. u0026quot;Jackie Brownu0026quot; is a fantastically entertaining crime thriller that not only does justice to Leonardu0026#39;s source material, but in some senses improves on it (admittedly, the novel this is based on is hardly his best work). The cast is a dream for this sort of movie, and contains what is as of 2008 Robert De Nirou0026#39;s last truly memorable performance, the music fits perfectly, the atmosphere created is the sort you can lose yourself in for the running time of the film (which feels significantly shorter than it is), and the screenplay, with its witty exchanges, striking characters, and plentiful plot twists, keeps the viewer more than entertained. This is a truly engaging film.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eTarantino movies do it for me. I donu0026#39;t think heu0026#39;s one of the greatest directors of all time or anything, but he is a talented director with the capacity to make tremendously entertaining films. While many would prefer him to do films like u0026quot;Kill Billu0026quot; I think u0026quot;Jackie Brownu0026quot; is a far better representation of his talent. Heu0026#39;s certainly not completely out of his element here, thereu0026#39;s plenty of 70u0026#39;s retro cool in this film, but thankfully it is contained and kept from going overboard.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eExpect another u0026quot;Pulp Fictionu0026quot; and disappointment is an understandable reaction, but if you go into this with an open mind and expect nothing in particular you might just find that u0026quot;Jackie Brownu0026quot; is not only Tarantinou0026#39;s best but one of the most entertaining films of the 90u0026#39;s.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e9.5/10”