Buzzing comedies such as The Spy Who Dumped Me await you in our Summer Movie Guide. Check in for all the info you need.
Related lists from IMDb editors
Related lists from IMDb users
Title: Jackie Brown (1997)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Pam Grier | ... | Jackie Brown | |
| Samuel L. Jackson | ... | Ordell Robbie | |
| Robert Forster | ... | Max Cherry | |
| Bridget Fonda | ... | Melanie Ralston | |
| Michael Keaton | ... | Ray Nicolette | |
| Robert De Niro | ... | Louis Gara | |
| Michael Bowen | ... | Mark Dargus | |
| Chris Tucker | ... | Beaumont Livingston | |
| LisaGay Hamilton | ... | Sheronda | |
| Tommy 'Tiny' Lister | ... | Winston (as Tommy 'Tiny' Lister Jr.) | |
| Hattie Winston | ... | Simone | |
| Sid Haig | ... | Judge | |
| Aimee Graham | ... | Amy - Billingsley Sales Girl | |
 |
Ellis Williams | ... | Cockatoo Bartender (as Ellis E. Williams) |
| Tangie Ambrose | ... | Billingsley Sales Girl #2 | |
The middle-aged stewardess Jackie Brown smuggles money from Mexico to Los Angeles for the arms dealer Ordell Robbie. When she gets caught by the agents Ray Nicolet and Mark Dargus with ten thousand dollars and cocaine in her purse, they propose a deal to her to help them to arrest Ordell in exchange of her freedom. Meanwhile Ordell asks the 56-year-old Max Cherry, who runs a bail bond business, to release Jackie Brown with the intention of eliminating her. Jackie suspects of Ordell's intention and plots a complicated confidence game with Max to steal half a million dollars from Ordell. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Explore popular and recently added TV series available to stream now with Prime Video.
What a film! Amazing ensemble, serpentine plot, all based on an Elmore Leonard novel. I enjoyed the film when it first came out but I didn't appreciate its complexity and the caliber of its acting as I did when I saw it the other day.
A tired airline stewardess (Pam Grier as the eponymous character) sees a slim window through which she could escape to a more leisurely life. However, she will have to steal money from a nasty small-time arms dealer and convince the Feds she is trying to help them get the dealer. Can she make it work? On her side is bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster) who, we think, might want to squeeze out that window with her.
However, she has to outwit the venal Ordell Robbie (Sam Jackson) who we see is not the nicest guy in the world. Robbie is assisted by the dim-witted pothead ex-con Louis (Robert DeNiro) and his possibly-smarter-than-she-looks snow bunny Melanie (Bridge Fonda).
On the other is the law, in the person of Mark Dargus (Michael Bowen) and Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton). She has to convince the Feds she is complying with the terms of her agreement with them and she has to convince Ordell that she is not scamming him. It's a hell of a balance. Can she do it?
Great music, typically a-bit-too-clever dialogue as one might expect from Tarantino. Tarantino features LA's grittiness in a way that those of us Angelenos who know that the Southland isn't all Beverly Hills and Hollywood really appreciate. The acting is fantastic. You've never seen Robert DeNiro act like this. He's dopey with a lot of repressed anger. DeNiro gets the essence of a conflicted ex-con. Robert Forster is competent and confident. The chemistry he has with Grier is smoldering. Sam Jackson eats up the screen in his scenes. It's like shooting fish in a barrel for him.
Pam Grier is phenomenal as Jackie Brown. You don't know just how honest Jackie is but you have sympathy for her from the get-go. Grier makes her gorgeous, smart, hard-working, sexy, confident, and diligent. It really is a shame that she hasn't had another role even APPROACHING one of this richness. It truly is a great role though and Pam Grier delivers in spades.