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Jackie Brown (1997)
Jackie Brown is so far the first and only time Quentin Tarantino wrote an adapted screenplay, based on Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch, and it plays like a fine-tuned, well-oiled mechanism. Compared to Tarantino’s other films, this is a cleaner, more genre-faithful crime story. He even tones down the violence, which here is often hidden from view and filmed in a 1970s tradition. Jackie Brown is first and foremost about plotting and characters, all of which are penned, played out, and photographed in a way that makes the film dance elegantly on the fine line between stark realism and a celebration of Hollywood’s crime-movie tradition. The latter has always been an important element in Tarantino’s films, but in Jackie Brown he uses it for effect more than to make a statement. The film doesn’t come off as post-anything – it’s right in the thick of it, completely unaware of the tradition it belongs to, and thus far less self-conscious and self-referring than most of Tarantino’s other films. This immediacy elevates the crime story and basic premise, which are as clever as they are uninhibited. And it is further helped and bolstered by some typically meritable narrative tricks from Tarantino, who toys with perspectives and timelines. There are without exception brilliant performances from the entire eclectic cast, which is superbly selected by Tarantino – none more so than Pam Grier and Robert Forster, who enjoyed well-earned career rejuvinations as a result of their work.
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