Jackie Brown (1997)

After bursting onto the scene with almost post modern and deffinalty daring, Reservoir dogs, in 1992, Quentin Tarantino established himself as a serious player in modern american cinema. Then 2 years later he released what i consider to still be his best work, Pulp Fiction. Much like dogs, its fragmented timeline, violence, dialogue and direction proved that Dogs wasn't a fluke. It would be Christmas day 1997 when Tarantino would release his next film, Jackie Brown.

Jackie Brown, adapted from novel, Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard, seemed on odd choice for his next project. Tarantino had made a name for himself with his writting and the decision to work on a project written by some one else was a suprise. However, he found a way to balence Elmore's work with his own imput, in what turns out to be one of tarantino's most solid films.

By solid i mean, unlike Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction before it, which could be argued they were more style of substance, Jackie Brown derives its strength from its characters and lets them tell the story. With a great cast top to bottom including Samuel L Jackson, Pam Grier, Robert De Niro, Robert Forster, Michael Keaton and Bridget Fonda. Also more so than his previous films, its the subtleties within the characters that sells them. Whether its Fonda's laid back performance as sufer chick Melanie, or Robert De Niro playing a man who is released from prison, slowly getting used to life outside again. Another stand out performance coems from Michael Keaton, who shines in this. Samuel L Jackson is of course great, in possibly his most evil role. The soundtrack is also a key factor of this movie with blues and soul tracks adding alot of depth to the film.

It's narrative is far more linear than QT other films, telling the story for the most part in order. Some complained about this, and yes i can see where they are comming from, once a director, an autuer one such as Tarantino goes against his usual style, it may come as a shock . However if you are worried about this i ask you to try and ignore that and watch it for the great character study it is.

All in all, this is a fantastic work, though maybe not as daring or loud as his other films, its a subtle, well made movie that is a great lesson in story telling.