Though never attracting the fanboy cult followings of other Quentin Tarantino projects, this twisty, hard-boiled crime-caper may be his best; certainly it’s the most pleasurable. Taken from Elmore Leonard’s deviously plotted novel, relatively modest in scale with characters showing a bit of mileage, it fits Tarantino’s deliberate style to a T while holding down his penchant for narrative longueurs; believably quirky yet welcoming, with major violence always positioned just outside the camera frame. The plot is really quite simple: Pam Grier’s Jackie Brown, mature stewardess at a third-rate airline, caught smuggling cash across the Mexican border for illegal gun dealer Samuel L. Jackson, agrees to help Fed Agents Michael Keaton & Michael Bowen take him down. With a little help from Robert Forester’s sympathetic Bail Bondsman, she plans on bringing in his entire fortune, giving enough to the Feds to satisfy their needs to gain a major arrest while secretly keeping most of the cash for herself. Naturally, things don’t go according to plan, especially with the crew of fuck-ups Jackson finds to do his legwork: Bridget Fonda, Chris Tucker, a wry Robert De Niro (always a treat in supporting roles). And all those distinctive acting chops serving their characters rather than shining up their resumés or, worse, playing up to their eccentric director. (An increasing problem in Tarantino pics.) The man should do more adaptations.
DOUBLE-BILL: Two of the best Leonard adaptations came just before (GET SHORTY/’95) and just after (OUT OF SIGHT/’98).
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