Summary
When Beaumont, a money man for gun runner Ordell, gets nabbed by the cops, the fallout forces Jackie Brown to start planning her escape from the criminal organization of which she is part.
Under-Rated
Yeah. That’s right. I’m saying it. This movie is great and doesn’t deserve to be relegated to second tier Tarantino status.
When I popped the movie in, I was expecting to have to write a review saying “hey, I know this movie is widely regarded as a lesser film but I still kinda like it,” all the while trying not to act sheepish about it but, after watching it again this afternoon, I can definitely say that this is one of my favorite Quentin Tarantino films.
Now I am not going to get too into the weeds about what I love about this film except to say that those same old themes which I always seem to come back to, growing older, time moving on, and identity are all there teeming under the surface of this taught crime thriller.
Sure, the swear count isn’t as high as Tarantino’s other works, and neither is the violence by a long shot but if that’s enough to make us lose sight of how brilliantly directed this film is then maybe we ought to admit we just like Tarantino because he is a violent director and we just don’t like him so much when he isn’t splitting heads and carving symbols into people’s foreheads.
I for one find this to be among my favorites because of the slower pacing which makes the stakes for these characters seem real and true. This isn’t a film where violence is played for laughs. Violence is fast. Bang! Over. Dead body on the ground. A life that was now is not.
The fear of death and growing old loom large in this movie as everyone plays a game for keeps knowing that they either win or die.
Certainly, even as he restrains himself in areas like violence, we can count on Tarantino to not skimp of character or camera. I’m going to spoil a scene here as illustration so fair warning if you are about to watch this film but I would argue since it is the opening scene, I’m spoiling next to nothing.
SPOILER SECTION
Jackie Brown - Opening Sequence
In the opening scene of the film, we have Jackie Brown herself (Pam Grier, “Foxy Brown”) on an airport conveyor as we track along. She hops off it and runs to catch a plane which she is working as an attendant and begins greeting passengers boarding.
The Graduate - Opening Sequence
I love this opening scene partially because it is a callback to “The Graduate” but it is a reference in the best possible way.
Sometimes a director will put a reference in a film and just drop it in as an Easter egg or something that doesn’t add to the story. It may be cool that “Spider-Man: Far From Home” has a bunch of license plates referencing comic book issues but it isn’t building on that information in any way. Not in “Jackie Brown” though.
In “Jackie Brown” Quentin takes the famous scene which seems to put forward the image that the main character is being spit of a conveyor he has been waiting to get off of his whole life, in the form of school, and begin doing things. There is a sense that he could be any young white college graduate that causes identification with the audience.
Now, as a white guy that identified with that image, I see the image of Jackie on that same conveyor and realize that she hasn’t just been spit off the easy high school, college, graduation train that many people like me have gone through. Her conveyor doesn’t take her home, it takes her to a job. A service job. That she has to run for and where a uniform for, and has had to hustle for to make ends meet for much longer than a college grad.
Oh she’s smart though. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating her. The first words we hear her speak are in a language other than English. She may have grown up on ‘the wrong side of the tracks’ but through force of will and mind she has made a crappy little unsatisfying life by working hard. The music, upbeat but foreboding foreshadows with the words, “across one hundred and tenth street, looking for a woman who’s weak.”
Is Jackie that weak woman who’s about to fall and lose what little she has worked for or is she strong and gonna come out on top.
And that is just the credits.
Verdict
There are many more reasons to watch this film but I think by seeing how much thought went into the opening credits sequence you should be able to see how worth your time checking this film out will be for you.
It may not crack your top 3 Tarantino films but then again it may. Who knows. I know it is among my favorites and in an era where people lament that women of color aren’t being given their due, how about giving “Jackie Brown” the chance and credit it deserves.
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