Jackie Brown (1997)

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Stars: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster
Runtime: 154 minutes

Synopsis: A middle-aged woman finds herself in the middle of a huge conflict that will either make her a profit or cost her life.

Performances: 8/10
Screenplay: 7/10
Editing: 6/10
Cinematography: 6/10
Score/Soundtrack: 8/10

Verdict: "Jackie Brown" was the last film in Quentin Tarantino's short but rich filmography that I had yet to see. Its long runtime and status of being one of the director's weakest efforts were the reasons why I never found myself interested in checking it out. But after watching "Death Proof" - which is widely regarded as being Tarantino's worst film - and absolutely loving it, I decided to give the Pam Grier led movie a shot.

"Jackie Brown" came out at a time in which Tarantino was still mostly a director with a penchant for the crime genre. An obvious homage to the blaxploitation era, it follows a middle-aged flight intendant (played by Grier) who finds herself in a very unique position with a wanted guns salesman (Samuel L. Jackson) that could either go very well or very wrong for her.

There are definitely many things to admire about "Jackie Brown", with the performances and music topping that list, but overall I do feel that it's Tarantino's least memorable film to date. Despite a much superior final 45 minutes, I never truly found any of the film's aspects captivating. The characters were just fine, and so were the dialogue, structure, and style. Nothing was bad but nothing really stood out in a film that I feel could've been easily trimmed down.

If I had to rank Tarantino's filmography, "Jackie Brown" would probably be in the last position. It's refreshing to finally know that the legendary director/writer never made a bad movie in his entire career, but this one's the one I'll be forgetting about the soonest.

FINAL GRADE: 6/10