Featured Audience Ratings

• Matt G

  
  Just revisited this. Might be my new favorite movie.

• Kase V

  
  Probably Tarantino's most mellow film, 'Jackie Brown' makes for an interesting film even if the plot doesn't sound like it. Its strongest suite is easily its fantastic cast, with well developed characters and a patient but clever script. It is not your typical… More
  Probably Tarantino's most mellow film, 'Jackie Brown' makes for an interesting film even if the plot doesn't sound like it. Its strongest suite is easily its fantastic cast, with well developed characters and a patient but clever script. It is not your typical Tarantino as we've come to know him today, but 'Jackie Brown' gets the job done in regards to being a good film.

• Chris W

  
  I feel it was wrong that this film was not as successful initially as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction were. Part of that might have to do with the fact that the film's story is based off of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch, and is not original to QT, but that shouldn't… More
  I feel it was wrong that this film was not as successful initially as Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction were. Part of that might have to do with the fact that the film's story is based off of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch, and is not original to QT, but that shouldn't matter. What we have here is a middle-aged flight attendant who gets caught up in a smuggling scheme with a slimy gun runner who finds herself caught between him and the law, with an important choice to make. Tarantino and the cast handle the material quite well and make it their own. One could start to call this movie Tarantino's homage to Blaxploitation, and while I can't completely deny that, I must say that it is only Blaxploitation in spirit. It's actually a romance of sorts disguised as a crime epic, and the way I see it, there isn't a damn thing wrong with that. Pam Grier had a career renaissance here, and she does wonderfully. Robert Forster is also quite good, as is Sam Jackson, but I've always gotten the most enjoyment from Bridget Fonda's stoned beach bunny and a very low key Rober t De Niro as the wayward ex-con trying to get back into society. The needle drops are wonderful as you'd expect, the cinematography is likewise top notch, and the film earns its lengthy running time by having interesting and well developed characters that we grow to care about. This might be slightly lesser Tarantino, but it's still a brilliant film nonetheless. Definitely check it out, as it's a shame it's become one of his more underrated and under appreciated works.

• Eric A

  
  Definitely not Tarantino's best as far as the plot goes, but the strong cast will make you quickly forget about that. It is also a lot mellower than his other films, but still has some sex, money, and violence to keep you satisfied as always.

• Eugene B

  
  Tarantino delivers once more with this witty flick. Though it tones down on the excessive violence that the director is accustomed to, the film is gracefully charmed with a clever plot, splendid dialogue and grand performance by the sensational Pam Grier. Jackie Brown is a… More
  Tarantino delivers once more with this witty flick. Though it tones down on the excessive violence that the director is accustomed to, the film is gracefully charmed with a clever plot, splendid dialogue and grand performance by the sensational Pam Grier. Jackie Brown is a presentation of Tarantino's take on wittiness and cleverness. 4/5

• Al S

  
  It's slick, cool and utterly hilarious. A total great time. Director, Quentin Tarantino has done it again with another two and half hour joy-ride. Pam Grier is marvelous. Samuel L. Jackson is terrific. Robert Forester is fantastic. Robert De Niro is wonderful. Michael Keaton is… More
  It's slick, cool and utterly hilarious. A total great time. Director, Quentin Tarantino has done it again with another two and half hour joy-ride. Pam Grier is marvelous. Samuel L. Jackson is terrific. Robert Forester is fantastic. Robert De Niro is wonderful. Michael Keaton is brilliant. A wonderful cast of characters. An Excellent all-star cast that deliver the goods. This caper flick is nothing short of sensational. It delivers with plenty of fun that dosent stop and also packs lots of comedy and slick twist and turns. A sharp and very well-crafted film that keeps getting better every time i watch it. A pitch-perfect masterpiece. Aint nothing but a good time. One of my favorite books that gets turned int one of my favorite films.

• Graham J

  
  Tarantino's blaxploitation tribute is his most underrated film. The best Elmore Leonard adaptation and maybe his best ensemble cast. With a cast featuring Robert DeNiro, Sam Jackson & Michael Keaton, 1970's B-Movie star Robert Forster has the real standout performance.… More
  Tarantino's blaxploitation tribute is his most underrated film. The best Elmore Leonard adaptation and maybe his best ensemble cast. With a cast featuring Robert DeNiro, Sam Jackson & Michael Keaton, 1970's B-Movie star Robert Forster has the real standout performance. The Beaumont scene with Chris Tucker is one of my favorites.

• Jeff "

  
  Quentin Tarantino does it again by crafting a solid, near flawless third film with a great cast of talented actors. This is a well structured film that only Tarantino could make. I very much enjoyed the film, and this is one of those films that you kind of need to watch again because… More
  Quentin Tarantino does it again by crafting a solid, near flawless third film with a great cast of talented actors. This is a well structured film that only Tarantino could make. I very much enjoyed the film, and this is one of those films that you kind of need to watch again because there are so many twists to it, that you're sure to miss a bit of the main plot. That's not a bad thing; on the contrary, it elevates the film's plot. The beauty of Quentin Tarantino is that his films are always multi layered and have something more to suck the viewer into his films. This is a well acted film that has a great story. If you're a fan of Tarantino's work, then Jackie Brown will certainly appeal to you. What makes this film a great viewing experience is the richly detailed plot, and colorful characters that Quentin Tarantino could create. This is a fine follow-up to Pulp Fiction. Tarantino is a fine director and this is a strong film that is sure to please fans. As far as a crime film is concerned, this one delivers what genre fans want. With witty dialogue, a great cast, and immaculate directing from Quentin Tarantino, Jackie Brown is a fine film that is a must see and is a fine tribute to the Blackploitation genre of film. Now, I've never watched that particular genre of film, but I've seen samples of the genre, and I think this film captures the vibe perfectly. Tarantino fans will surely love this, and this is quite an entertaining two hours of film. What makes Tarantino films stand out is the sharp, witty and cool dialogue that is a trademark of the director. In a way, it's what makes films worth watching. Quentin Tarantino is an effective storyteller with great ideas where the proof is always on-screen for us to enjoy.

• Matthew S

  
  The story, characters and dialogue aren't memorable compared to Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction, or Reservoir Dogs, but this is smartly written and entertaining.

• Albert K

  
  Like most of Quentin Tarantino's movies, "Jackie Brown" is strung together with sharp dialogue, intriguing characters, intricate camerawork, and engaging plot devices. It's unique but not as colorful and suave as many of Tarantino's other entrees. Similarly,… More
  Like most of Quentin Tarantino's movies, "Jackie Brown" is strung together with sharp dialogue, intriguing characters, intricate camerawork, and engaging plot devices. It's unique but not as colorful and suave as many of Tarantino's other entrees. Similarly, it also doesn't have a particularly "unique" plot -- it's the style, technicalities, and wit Tarantino injects into "Jackie Brown" that creates such riveting entertainment. The pacing, contrary to other Quentin Tarantino outings, is not as crisp. Even more so, "Jackie Brown" has a slight stink of pretentiousness. Yes, movies need to show off their style, but there was a slight arrogance to its storytelling; in the end, the audience sits through "Jackie Brown"'s grandeur and eye-popping pep-rally but is not met of its promising claims in the main event. The movie itself is nowhere near the same caliber as "Pulp Fiction", "Reservoir Dogs", or even "Kill Bill Vol. 1". That is not to say that all the praise "Jackie Brown" received is not deservant of it; it's an intricately woven pop-culture film that satisfies, though not to the limit the film arrogantly claims it will fulfill.

• Manu G

  
  Six players on the trail of a half a million in Cash. There's only one question... Who's playing who? Although different than some of Tarantino's more violent precursors, such as "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction" and "True Romance" this is… More
  Six players on the trail of a half a million in Cash. There's only one question... Who's playing who? Although different than some of Tarantino's more violent precursors, such as "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction" and "True Romance" this is an excellent film. The editing and directing is great. Jackie Brown is the name of a flight attendant who gets caught smuggling her boss' gun money on the airline she works for. Luckily for her, the Fed Ray Nicolet and the LA Cop Mark Dargus decide to team up in order to arrest the arms dealer she works for, whose name they don't even know. Here's when she has to choose one way: tell Nicolet and Dargus about Ordell Robbie (the arms dealer) and get her freedom -except that if Ordell suspects you're talking about him, you're dead- or keep her mouth shut and do some time. That's when she meets Max Cherry -her bail bondsman-, a late fifties, recently separated, burnt-out man, who falls in love with her. Then Jackie comes up with a plan to play the Feds off against Ordell and the guys he works with -Louis Gara and Melanie Ralston, among others- and walk off with their money. But she needs Max's help. No one is going to stand in the way of his million dollar payoff...

• Sam B

  
  It's Tarantino's least violent, least tongue-and-cheek, and least creative movie ever. But despite this, "Jackie Brown" contains Quentin's killer dialogue (an excess of it in fact - the movie could have been much shorter), and the acting is amazing - Robert… More
  It's Tarantino's least violent, least tongue-and-cheek, and least creative movie ever. But despite this, "Jackie Brown" contains Quentin's killer dialogue (an excess of it in fact - the movie could have been much shorter), and the acting is amazing - Robert Forster is unbelievably good.

• Adam K

  
  The contemporary master of cinema, Quentin Tarantino, has so many excellent pieces of work, so many diverse, fascinating and exciting tour de forces, that some of his lesser known pieces, such as "Jackie Brown" are often lost in the history books. And alongside being… More
  The contemporary master of cinema, Quentin Tarantino, has so many excellent pieces of work, so many diverse, fascinating and exciting tour de forces, that some of his lesser known pieces, such as "Jackie Brown" are often lost in the history books. And alongside being forgotten they are also often dismissed as lesser films, or bad films. Despite this, Jackie Brown, which was Tarantino's work between "Pulp Fiction" and "Kill Bill", is an excellent film. As Tarantino's usual suspects re-assemble, we are told a tale of drug smuggling, guns and lots of cash as we mix with both criminals and the cops. The synopsis itself is not important, as the story unfolds beautifully with a little bit of romance sprinkled on top of a lot of suspense, The problem with Tarantino's lesser known films is the fact that they are immediately compared to one of his always known masterpieces, rather than being compared to the average film. Reviewing "Jackie Brown" on an average film basis, you get the product of excellent direction, almost all good acting, an intriguing storyline, and an all over enjoyable film. Samuel L Jackson heads up the team of actors, creating a typical Jackson Tarantino performance, but as always entertaining, and also creating a very believable and scary character, who scares his audience but also creates the character of Ordell into someone the audience like and enjoy being with on the screen, despite the fact they hate the fact they do. Pam Grier serves up an excellent performance as the title character, who plays an excellent strong female character, who lead the film beautifully. Alongside her, we have Robert Forster, who serves up the best performance of his career. Although his character is possibly the most moderate, sensible and likeable person of any Tarantino, he makes a nice change to the other criminals who dominate the screen. Forster also empowers the traditional good of the screen where the police officers, played by Michael Keaton and others, fail. But the best performance of the film comes from Robert De Niro. De Niro, leading the audience on throughout 90% of the film as one type of person, shocks and pleasantly surprises everyone with his small, but excellent performance. The cinematography is nothing special, but what really dominates the film, is the ability of Tarantino to tell a fascinating story, and un-wide it, inciting the audience with every new move. "Jackie Brown" is an excellent film. The reason it is passed over as something less than it is, is because of the historical achievements of Tarantino, just even after 5 years of filmmaking. But "Brown" is an excellent film, and one which should have a place in every film enthusiast's collection. Although it is perhaps too full of story lines, twist, sub-twists, and more, "Jackie Brown" is a great film by Tarantino standards, and a fantastic one by others.

• Carlos M

  
  Not Tarantino's best work, but still an enjoyable homage to the blaxploitation with a welcome comeback by Pam Grier. A decent crime movie that has charm and style, even if it is overlong and could have had a better cut in the post-production.

• paul o

  
  It has the feel of a Tarantino film but no real enjoyment from that. The acting is fun not engaging. Overall, the worst of Quentin's good films.

• Emil K

  
  A Film like a smooth and sexy limodrive. It surprises me that many rates this the worst of Tarantino films, while it is clearly one of the best and strongest proof of his talent as a director and writer. With Jackie Brown he feels more relaxed and assured than ever. And there are no… More
  A Film like a smooth and sexy limodrive. It surprises me that many rates this the worst of Tarantino films, while it is clearly one of the best and strongest proof of his talent as a director and writer. With Jackie Brown he feels more relaxed and assured than ever. And there are no pointless violence in this one or camera trickery, just some killer dialogue that is pure pleasure for ears. With masterful use of music in soundtrack and wonderful use of old school actors like Robert Forster, Pam Grier and Robert De Niro in key roles he pulls out one of the coolest films in his career.

• Daniel L

  
  A very good film, but it seems to lack Tarantino's usual "Kick" and it also tends to be rather slow.

• Devon B

  
  Samuel L. Jackson and Quentin Tarantino team up once again, this time adding 70s "blaxploitaion" star Pam Grier into the mix, in what can be best described as Tarantino's most "understated" film. No really, in comparison to his other works, this is… More
  Samuel L. Jackson and Quentin Tarantino team up once again, this time adding 70s "blaxploitaion" star Pam Grier into the mix, in what can be best described as Tarantino's most "understated" film. No really, in comparison to his other works, this is practically an Ingmar Bergman character study. Tarantino forgoes usual round-about dialogue in favor of a more structured script and the result is something more in common with the Coen brothers' style of filmmaking than Kill Bill or Grindhouse. Jackie Brown is an airline stewardess who acts as a liason between an L.A.-based arms dealer and his South American clientele. When she gets busted by the cops, her arms dealer (Jackson) decides to silence her rather than risk her turning him in. Jackie, however, comes up with her own plan. Jackie Brown isn't one of Tarantino's most successful movies and it's hard to say why. Maybe it's a little too ahead of it's time. Perhaps if it had been released in 2007, it would've had more of an impact. Perhaps not. Who's to say? Certainly not me. I know at the time, it was considered to be a throwback to the style of 70s blaxploitation, but watching it now, I find that atmosphere to be only barely present. Robert DeNiro and Bridget Fonda have some nice scenes together, and Samuel L. Jackson is completely over-the-top as the villain, but the whole thing feels like a sedated Pulp Fiction, and maybe that's why people reacted so luke warm to it when it was originally released. Whatever the case, it's an extraordinarily fun film.

• Zach B

  
  The first thing that comes to mind whenever someone thinks of this film is that this is one of the most underrated films from the 1990's (possibly second to Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut). Being fresh off of the world wide acclaim for his film PULP FICTION, Tarantino… More
  The first thing that comes to mind whenever someone thinks of this film is that this is one of the most underrated films from the 1990's (possibly second to Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut). Being fresh off of the world wide acclaim for his film PULP FICTION, Tarantino decided to start taking films a bit more maturely and what resulted is the film adaptation of Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch, a return to the 1970's Blaxploitation film genre, and the return of one of Cinema's greatest African American actresses. Now, at first I had no idea what this film really was about. Due to the fact that this is something of an underground film and overlooked due to it not being as high as PULP FICTION, I had no expectations for this film other then it is by Quentin Tarantino and the novel of the same name (which is something of a good read). What I ended up getting in the end is two and a half hours of great dialogue, good to great acting from the cast, and one of the best soundtracks I have heard. Plus a rather odd adaption of the book that, while still keeping the spirit of Leonard, embodies the greatness of Tarantino. Okay, first off directing. As I said, Tarantino had already proved to the world that he is a master of film with his previous piece PULP FICTION. Now, while that film is great (near perfect), the only problem really was that he went out of control with the film, but in a good way. Once the film was released, he was everywhere and that beyond over hyped the film. For this one, he took the advice of two film critics (Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert) and he slowed down. And, what resulted was him maturely directing a film that could have been terrible if in the hands of someone else. The only real problem with the directing would have to be that the pacing is slow as hell. The first thirty to forty five minutes are great and fast. Then it is slow until the end when the speed picks up. So, while not the best directing from Tarantino, it is far from his worst. Next the acting. Oh dear God. The acting. While there are some great actors in this film (Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction), Robert De Niro (The Godfather Part Two), Michael Keaton (Batman)), there is only one person that needs mentioning in this film. And that is the wonderful acting of Pam Grier as the title character: Jackie Brown. Now, Ms. Grier has something of a rocky career in films. Making it huge and iconic in the 60s - 70s as Foxy Brown, Grier returns to that state of mind by playing a character that is complete and total hard headed. She is great in this performance as a flight attendant that gets caught up in an underground guns ring. She just adds a style to this film that I doubt anyone else could create. It is a crying shame that she did not get any awards for this film. Next the script. Out of all the films that Tarantino has written, this is the only one that was not original. But, the question is: is that a bad thing? The answer is no. While it does contain dialogue that is from the original novel, the film is littered with Tarantino's typical dialogue that we all know and love. Being well written, it does suffer from the pacing. But, if you can get by that, then it is all good. Finally the score. Now, I am going to say that I am not a fan of Motown Records or any songs associated with the music they release. But in the case of Jackie Brown, I can and will make an exception. The entire point of the soundtrack is to create a sense around the film and compliment the scenes it is in. In the case of Jackie Brown, it does just that. The two best songs that are on the soundtrack and have the most iconic scenes in this movie would have to be the opening credits (Across 110th Street - Bobby Womack) and a certain scene with Samuel L. Jackson (Strawberry Letter 23 - The Brothers Johnson). Overall, this is a strongly underrated film and one of Tarantino's best films.

• Melvin W

  
  Ordell: "He put himself in a position where he was going to have to do ten years in prison, that's what he did. And if you know Beaumont, you know ain't no god damn way he can do ten years. And if you know that, then you know Beaumont's gonna do anything Beaumont… More
  Ordell: "He put himself in a position where he was going to have to do ten years in prison, that's what he did. And if you know Beaumont, you know ain't no god damn way he can do ten years. And if you know that, then you know Beaumont's gonna do anything Beaumont can to keep from doing them ten years, including telling the federal government any and every motherfucking thing about my black ass. Now that my friend is a clear cut case of him or me. And you best believe it ain't gonna be me." Besides Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown is my favorite Tarantino movie. The cast is amazing. Samuel L. Jackson, Pam Grier, Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, Robert Foster, Bridget Fonda, and even Sid Haig and Chris Tucker in little cameos. The plots very intricate and I love the way Tarantino presented it. The scene where "the exchange" goes through is very good in how it is presented. Like any Tarantino movie the dialogue is awesome. Samuel L. Jackson is perfect in his role as Ordell Robbie. This definitely is an underrated film from Tarantino. Everyone knows Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction but not this overlooked gem of a film.

Read all 20 featured audience ratings