Classic Movie: Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997) & North By Northwest (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)

It had been a minute since I watched Jackie Brown (1997), and when I recently found it on Prime Video I originally just pressed play to re-watch the opening, introducing Pam Grier’s character, to the tune of Across 110th Street sung by Bobby Womack (a sequence apparently inspired by the opening of The Graduate.)

A magical four minutes ensued, but then I kept watching… and it’s still such an amazing movie.

As most people will know, Jackie Brown is based on the book Rum Punch (1992) by Elmore Leonard. Naturally, Tarantino made some changes while adapting it, one of the most prominent being changing both the name and color of the main character from Jackie Burke to Jackie Brown and the location of the story from Florida to California.

Tarantino wanted Blaxploitation-icon Pam Grier for the title role and playing the lead in the movie meant a return to the prominence of her 1970’s heyday, when she starred in Blaxploitation-movies like Coffy (1973) and Foxy Brown (1974).

Even though those titles have left their mark on this movie, Tarantino never considered it to be a Blaxploitation movie, even though he incorporated four songs by Roy Ayers from the soundtrack to Coffy, while some of the other song choices also reflect his love of the genre. I remember having the soundtrack (including songs by The Brothers Johnson, Johnny Cash and The Delfonics) on repeat for quite a while, after the first time I saw the movie.

Despite its darker and sometimes brutal moments, this crime caper is one of Tarantino’s more playful movies, as well as being an hommage to Pam Grier, who really comes into her own as the movie’s designated heroine.

At first it seems that 44-year old Jackie is caught between a rock and a hard place. She’s a flight attendant with an unfortunate, criminal past and that’s why for the longest time she’s been working for Cabo Airlines, which is known as the shittiest airline around.

On her way back from Mexico she gets pinched by the ATF (the Bureau of Alcohol, Tabacco, Firearms and Explosives) for smuggling both money and coke.

ATF-agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) and Los Angeles-cop Mark Dargus (Michael Bowen, an able back-up to Keaton’s droll scenery chewing) try to rope her in as an informant, to rat on her boss, Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson, menacing but still a lot of fun), who considers himself a big shot arms dealer and isn’t above (or below) killing off an employee (or two) if he has no further use for ‘em.

Ordell has women all over town, but he spends most of his time at the place of Melanie Ralston (Bridget Fonda, very believable), who looks like a surfer girl but is mostly interested in getting high and watching television. Also in the mix is Louis Gara (Robert De Niro, somewhat subdued but a quiet rage just under the surface) who just spent four years in prison for a bank robbery, while also serving time together with Ordell.

For her part, Jackie decides to play nice with Nicolette and Dargus, but she also sides up with bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster, very much the epitome of ‘cool, calm & collected’), who falls in love with her the moment he sets eyes on her and dreams of quitting his job and spending the rest of his days with Jackie.

In the end it’s all about money, at least on the surface. If you look a little deeper, it’s about the survival of the smartest. The plot revolves around half a million dollar, a sum that’s both a lot and perhaps not quite enough to last a lifetime. But, as Max notes, ‘Half a million dollars will always be missed.’

It’s money that belongs to Ordell, and he desperately needs Jackie to fly it in from Cabo. Everyone knows a trap is being set by the ATF and most of the characters think they’ll be the one(s) smart enough to get away with the money and start a new life.

Jackie Brown (both the character and the movie) has a great sense of style. The visuals are duly impressive and there is some great acting and dialogue, leading to one memorable scene after another.

One of my favorites is a late-night conversation between Grier and Forster, two very mature characters who both have been around the block more than once, sizing each other up, trying to find out what the other is bringing to the table, yet at the same time full of affection.

Another is a scene at a local bar, where Louis tries to tell Ordell that he can’t trust Melanie, but is quick to reply that even though he knows he can’t trust Melanie one bit he isn’t worried in the slightest, because ‘You can always trust Melanie to be Melanie.’

The big difference with Tarantino’s first two movies, Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994), is that this time round the story is mostly told in lineair fashion, except for the big climactic sequence, which concerns the handover of the money, and which is told from three different points of view, reminiscent of classic Japanese movie Rashomon (1950).

It’s always fun to watch something with that kind of bravura, and Tarantino sure knows how to pull it off, while I also think it’s justified from a story perspective because by this time in the movie I was so invested in the characters, that’s it’s absolutely worth seeing how it all plays out for them.

Especially after this rewatch I believe that Jackie Brown is a great reminder of Tarantino’s talent.

In 1997 the reception wasn’t quite so welcoming. After applauding the ground breaking Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, many critics were happy enough to take the golden boy down a peg or two.

To add insult to injury, the movie only received one Oscar nomination, a well deserved one for Robert Forster in the Best Supporting Actor category.

Should Pam Grier have been nominated too? Perhaps the role wasn’t enough of a stretch, but at the very least she embodies the character perfectly. She was nominated for a Golden Globe. And both the character and the actress are iconic.

Both the movie and its star didn’t get everything they deserved back in 1997. But seen through 2025 eyes Jackie Brown is an absolute classic.

I give it five stars!

Note: Jackie Brown is available on various streaming platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Films and Apple TV.

Bonus review:

NORTH BY NORTHWEST (Alfred Hitchcock, 1959)

North by North West (1959) has always been one of my favourite movies. It is almost entirely made up of sequences which have become classics in their own right.

The scene with the cropduster plane comes to mind, as well as the dinner scene on the train where Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint start to fall in love with each other.

North by North West also marked the beginning of a new genre: the action thriller and served as an inspiration to the James Bond series and countless other movies.

It also tells one of the classic ‘innocent man on the run’ stories that Alfred Hitchcock was famous for.

Cary Grant plays advertising executive Roger O. Thornhill, but is mistaken for one George Kaplan, who is believed to be a secret agent, and is therefore kidnapped by members of a criminal organisation who are afraid he will foil their plans to smuggle secret information out of the country.

After Thornhill manages to escape certain death, he is framed for the murder of a U.N. executive, he is forced to flee to prove his innocence, his only ally being a young woman who goes by the name of Eve Kendall. But even her true motives are a mystery.

The movie was written by Ernest Lehman, who told Hitch he wanted to write the ultimate Hitchcock movie. And in many ways he succeeded.

Hitchcock's direction is masterful, there is a style and grace to the proceedings that makes you forget some of the more far fetched elements of the story.

The film features excellent performances by all cast members and the chemistry between Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint is a joy to watch.

North by North West offers escapism of the highest order and pure cinematic entertainment.

I was lucky enough to see it on the big screen. If you ever get the chance, do yourself a favor and go.

I give it five stars!

Note: North by North West is available to stream on various platforms like Amazon Prime Video, Google Play Films, Apple TV and Rakuten TV.