Post by klep on Nov 30, 2015 7:32:02 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK: Jackie Brown
Quentin Tarantino gained Hollywood's curiosity with Reservoir Dogs, but after Pulp Fiction premiered at Cannes he had their attention. What would this foul-mouthed, quick-witted wünderkind do to follow his groundbreaking work?
It turned out he would just do what everyone else was doing - adapt an Elmore Leonard novel. But he wasn't going to do it by the numbers, as was made abundantly clear when he cast Pam Grier as the lead in an adaptation of Rum Punch. Even today it's unfortunately rare - almost unheard of - for a black woman (or any woman, really) to be given a role like this. Jackie Brown is smart and quick - smarter than anyone else in the film. She can be scared, but she can't be cowed. She's middle-aged, and aims to make sure the back half of her life is what she wants it to be. She's a dream role, and Quentin Tarantino wasn't about to let it go to anyone but a personal favorite of his who maybe needed a boost.
It thus is no accident that Jackie Brown is an homage to the blaxploitation films of the 70's where Grier became a star. It has a soulful score, a classic blaxploitation character in villain Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), and of course it has Grier herself. But while Tarantino has love for blaxploitation films, he recognizes their problematic tropes and works to subvert them. Grier - though undeniably beautiful - is not eye candy in this movie. She never strips down, or wears skimpy outfits. She has no sex scene - she doesn't have the time. Her allure comes as much from her intelligence and confidence as anything else. She knows her worth and no one is going to deny it.
Meanwhile all the problems of the blaxploitation genre are wrapped up in the film's villain. Ordell is a violent womanizing gun runner, eager to solve his problems with a bullet and treat women like they are there to serve him. He is the twisted machismo of blaxploitation incarnate, and Jackson plays him perfectly - charisma and menace in equal measure with a side of thinking he's smarter than he really is.
Jackie Brown is a caper of the highest order. Between Tarantino's genre savvy, his talent for dialog, and the excellent performance of his cast there's scarcely a flaw to be found. Even smaller parts like Louis Gara or Ray Nicolette have A-list stars playing in them (and this is before DeNiro stopped caring - he's a marvelous schlub in this film). With it Tarantino cemented himself as a true auteur and he never looked back.
This isn't the first Leonard adaptation that's been a Movie of the Week. The Dissolve also covered Soderbergh's Out of Sight (which also featured Keaton as Ray Nicolette due to Tarantino's largesse). Get Shorty was another contemporaneous adaptation, and of course many other of his novels have been adapted over the years. Aside from the genre elements that Tarantino employed, what do you think separates Jackie Brown from the others?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/7: Our first movie of The Holidays @ The Dissolve will be Shane Black's crackling Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Quentin Tarantino gained Hollywood's curiosity with Reservoir Dogs, but after Pulp Fiction premiered at Cannes he had their attention. What would this foul-mouthed, quick-witted wünderkind do to follow his groundbreaking work?
It turned out he would just do what everyone else was doing - adapt an Elmore Leonard novel. But he wasn't going to do it by the numbers, as was made abundantly clear when he cast Pam Grier as the lead in an adaptation of Rum Punch. Even today it's unfortunately rare - almost unheard of - for a black woman (or any woman, really) to be given a role like this. Jackie Brown is smart and quick - smarter than anyone else in the film. She can be scared, but she can't be cowed. She's middle-aged, and aims to make sure the back half of her life is what she wants it to be. She's a dream role, and Quentin Tarantino wasn't about to let it go to anyone but a personal favorite of his who maybe needed a boost.
It thus is no accident that Jackie Brown is an homage to the blaxploitation films of the 70's where Grier became a star. It has a soulful score, a classic blaxploitation character in villain Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), and of course it has Grier herself. But while Tarantino has love for blaxploitation films, he recognizes their problematic tropes and works to subvert them. Grier - though undeniably beautiful - is not eye candy in this movie. She never strips down, or wears skimpy outfits. She has no sex scene - she doesn't have the time. Her allure comes as much from her intelligence and confidence as anything else. She knows her worth and no one is going to deny it.
Meanwhile all the problems of the blaxploitation genre are wrapped up in the film's villain. Ordell is a violent womanizing gun runner, eager to solve his problems with a bullet and treat women like they are there to serve him. He is the twisted machismo of blaxploitation incarnate, and Jackson plays him perfectly - charisma and menace in equal measure with a side of thinking he's smarter than he really is.
Jackie Brown is a caper of the highest order. Between Tarantino's genre savvy, his talent for dialog, and the excellent performance of his cast there's scarcely a flaw to be found. Even smaller parts like Louis Gara or Ray Nicolette have A-list stars playing in them (and this is before DeNiro stopped caring - he's a marvelous schlub in this film). With it Tarantino cemented himself as a true auteur and he never looked back.
This isn't the first Leonard adaptation that's been a Movie of the Week. The Dissolve also covered Soderbergh's Out of Sight (which also featured Keaton as Ray Nicolette due to Tarantino's largesse). Get Shorty was another contemporaneous adaptation, and of course many other of his novels have been adapted over the years. Aside from the genre elements that Tarantino employed, what do you think separates Jackie Brown from the others?
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 12/7: Our first movie of The Holidays @ The Dissolve will be Shane Black's crackling Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.