Can’t Hold Down Jackie Brown
Image by Chuck Nicklaus (FFP, 2022).
By C. A. Ramirez
Quentin Tarantino’s third film stands the test of time with blistering dialogue and a legendary cast of Hollywood talent.
The beauty of a Tarantino film lies with its characters. In Jackie Brown, Samuel L. Jackson plays Ordell Robbie, a murdering gun runner with a tenuous grasp on the English language. He is backed up by Louis Gara, played by Robert DeNiro, a burned-out bank robber joining Ordell’s criminal enterprise. Eyeing their lucrative operation with envy is Melanie, Ordell’s scheming beach bunny girlfriend played by Bridget Fonda. Ordell’s operation brings guns into the states while his cash goes to a bank in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. The key to the whole operation is Jackie Brown. Played by Pam Grier. Jackie is an airline stewardess with Cabo Air. She has been smuggling Ordell’s profits into Mexico for years.
The problem for all these nefarious characters is that ATF agent Ray Nicollete and LAPD Detective Mark Dargus, played by Michael Keaton and Michael Bowen respectively, are hot on their heels. The story takes off like a rocket when Nicolette and Dargus arrest Jackie with $50,000 in cash of Ordell’s money and a compromising amount of cocaine. Jackie is stuck between Ordell and the Feds, and it is up to legendary actor Robert Forrester, as the enigmatic bail bondsman Max Cherry, to rescue her.
In stark contrast to Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown is a slow-burn master class. Pulp Fiction plays like a coke-fueled game of checkers while Jackie Brown is a game of chess. Each character has strengths and weaknesses that are executed by their actions and dialogue; every scene is a steel cage death match where tension and character revelations exchange blows. No shot in Jackie Brown is wasted, every scene is framed in that manner for a reason, and there are many scenes where characters are left alone for the audience to observe. Tarantino leaves you with his characters as they try to figure out what you already know. How each character navigates the plot is as interesting as the plot itself, and that is just a part of what makes Tarantino’s Jackie Brown a visual masterpiece.
Jackie Brown opens with a tracking profile shot of Pam Grier as the title character. She stands on an airport conveyor walkway. Motion creates emotion. Jackie is not in control of her life; her life is in control of her. The walkway moves her until it ends, leaving Jackie to pick up the pace and run for her gate.
This brief introductory sequence is mirrored right before “the sting” goes down towards the last thirty minutes of the film. In that shot, Jackie is the one moving—she is the spark that will ignite the fire, in control of her fate; no longer a pawn but an unrestricted Queen able to go where she wants and when.
Tarantino’s point-of-view is nearly unmatched when it comes to making his audience emotional. This introductory scene shows us a hard-working blue-collar woman who does not catch many breaks. The audience can relate because they are given just a taste of each character before their scene ends. Tarantino leaves you in a state of perpetual curiosity when it comes to his characters and their motivations, and right when you want another bite, he clears the table.
Jackie Brown is like a pool of black tar. Once it catches you – you’re caught. The characters in Jackie Brown are alive and well in the minds of the viewer. The way each scene is framed and shot is doubly impactful. The viewer is made to feel like they are a part of the set, if not a nameless/faceless third wheel, sitting on the edge of every conversation, a part of the gang yet a gang apart. This is the magic of Tarantino, regardless of which of his nine films you watch, you are made to feel like you sent in a headshot and were cast as an extra, and Jackie Brown is no exception. Tarantino’s POV draws you into a world that you are more a part of than your own, and that black movie magic is the famed Director’s bread and butter.
A Tarantino film stands out like a straight-undercover officer struggling to blend in at a pride parade. Jackie Brown is unique in that it does not drag the viewer through multiple time changes and settings. Save for the money exchange scene of the third act, the story is linear. Every scene compliments the next, and an additional layer of plot and character motivations are revealed piece by piece. These are some of the characteristics that place Jackie Brown as most moviegoers “least favorite” Tarantino film.
In a social media driven world, the growing masses are developing an attention span that would shame a gnat. Great movies take their time in showing you who the main characters are before their world is turned upside down. John Wick would be a terrible film if it failed to show the audience that he was a heart-broken widower brutalized by a brazen Russian Greyjoy gangster. A three-hour film does not ensure an intimate bond will be formed between it and the audience, but natural, plot-driving dialogue does. The audience runs parallel with the plot and instead of worrying about what is going to happen, they are more concerned with how the characters are going to react to whatever happens. When you care about your characters, the story never ends; they continue to live in your head long after the credits roll. Jackie Brown might not be the most action packed and blood-soaked Tarantino film, but it is instead a masterpiece showcasing how characterizations are only as substantive as the words they speak.
A slow burning forest fire is always fun to watch, and Jackie Brown is the equivalent of watching a continent smolder. Too many films open with the character being pursued, Jackie Brown forces the audience to chase down the plot and it is never clear who the antagonists are since everyone is walking the fine line of criminality. One of the best movies of the 1990’s, and an incomparable work from a master filmmaker.
