Quentin Tarantino, a genius who brought us Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs returned with Jackie Brown, a tale of deception in the world of drugs-smuggling business. Heavily inspired by the 1970’s blaxploitation flicks, it tells the story of a stewardess, Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) who was pinned inside the cash-smuggling business as she’s tormented between two choices, becoming a cash-mule and in the end snitching her own boss or being smart by keeping the money for herself. It’s quite rare to see a film where the leading role is a female. Even though the plot relies quite much on Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch, Tarantino really did great in giving his own personal touch to the existing materials by adding up a fine composition of clever dialogue, dark humor, and even the ultra violence in the forms of gun-battling badasses, drugs, and absolutely very graphic language, making it absolutely a typical Tarantino flick.
This film also possessed its own controversies that put Tarantino in the prosecuted seat because of his frequent use of the word “nigger”. This serious accusation was made by Spike Lee who furiously (while busy counting) noted that was used 38 times, excessively, throughout the film and he claimed that it’s an abuse and definitely an insult to black people. Apart from the above accusation, in my opinion, Jackie Brown, with its strong casts from Pam Grier, Bridget Fonda, Robert Forester, and Samuel L. Jackson, Michael Keaton and Robert De Niro really add up to the greatness of the film. The way I see it, every cast here is given a complex set of character for us to study. Both De Niro and Keaton, despite their small roles, they remain favorable and memorable.