Jackie Brown is a 1997 Quentin Tarantino-directed film based on the 1992 Elmore Leonard novel Rum Punch. The plot revolves around a beautiful money-smuggling flight attendant (Pam Grier) who conspires with bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster) to help bring down a crime ring headed by arms smuggler Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). Robert Forster was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his role, and Pam Grier was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress.
Fast Facts:
- Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, Bridget Fonda, Michael Bowen, and Chris Tucker
- Director: Quentin Tarantino
- Producer: Lawrence Bender
- Released: December 25, 1997
- Rated: R
- Run time: 154 mins.
Brief Synopsis and Background
Tarantino's film is a homage to early 1970s blaxploitation films, from its movie poster to its cast. Pam Grier had starred in many such films in the 1970s, but had not had a leading role in many years. The film is one of several produced in the 1990s and adapted from Elmore Leonard's crime novels, along with Out of Sight (1998) and Get Shorty (1995). In the film, Jackie Brown is arrested by ATF agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) for smuggling money and cocaine, and Nicolette wants Brown's help in bringing down her boss, Ordell Robbie. Robbie gets bail bondsman Max Cherry to bail out Brown, fearing that she will talk to the authorities. In order to make enough money to flee the cops who are closing in, Robbie wants Brown to do one last job—a big $500,000 job that Nicolette also wants her to do so that they can bring down Robbie. However, Brown conspires with Cherry to swindle both Robbie and Nicolette so that they can split the $500,000. Robert De Niro plays stoner ex-con Louis Gara and Bridget Fonda plays the ditzy live-in girlfriend of Robbie, who has also had a past with Gara.
