Jackie Brown . Tucson Weekly . 12-29-97

Jackie Brown

DIRECTED BY: Quentin Tarantino

REVIEWED: 12-29-97

Quentin Tarantino adapted his screenplay from the Elmore Leonard novel Rum Punch, with unexpectedly lackluster results. Jackie Brown has the flat, literal look of a made-for-TV movie, and about as much style and charm. Tarantino does show his great knack for working with actors and making interesting casting decisions. Pam Grier--best known from her roles in '70s blaxploitation flicks Foxy Brown and Coffy--does a great job playing Jackie, a down-on-her-luck flight attendant who's a hell of a lot smarter than everyone else thinks. Bridget Fonda is funny as a stoned surfer chick who likes to hang out with criminals, and Robert Forster is wonderfully deadpan as the bail bondsman Max Cherry. But despite some good performances, Tarantino seems restrained, and concerned with keeping things slow, smooth, and real easy to understand. There's plenty of exposition, as well as intertitles to tell us where we are, just in case you go for popcorn during one of the long explanations. It's as though Tarantino doesn't trust himself to tell this story. Even the settings--mostly apartments, shopping malls and offices--seem tired and bland.

--Richter

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Pulp Fiction

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Gravesend
The Funeral
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