365 High-Def Days of Oscar: Day 18
Year: 1997
Oscar Nominations:
Best Supporting Actor
THE PLOT THUS FAR
A female flight attendant becomes a key figure in a plot between the police and an arms dealer.
WHAT WE THOUGHT
Christmas Break 1997 was a good time at the cinema. The only horrible flick that was gracing the silver screen was “Titanic”. But, you couldn’t ever get into a showing of that because of the preteen girls and their masturbatory craving for Leonardo DiCaprio. But, there were other flicks to be enjoyed. There was “Scream 2”, “Tomorrow Never Dies”, “Good Will Hunting”, “Amistad”, “Boogie Nights”, “As Good as it Gets” and “Jackie Brown”. Since I was still in my Quentin Tarantino fanboy phase, I was absolutely dying to see “Jackie Brown”. But, was it worth the three year wait since “Pulp Fiction”?
The film opens with a Blaxploitation infused reference to “The Graduate”. A faux AIP style intro credit sequences introduces the audience to stewardess Jackie Brown (Pam Grier). Jackie Brown rushes to board her airplane, but she soon finds out that the ATF is waiting for her when she gets back. ATF Agents Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) and Mark Dargus (Michael Bowen) talk to Jackie Brown about illegal gun smuggling and her connection to arms dealer Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). The ATF agents explain that Ordell is killing everyone who has a connection to his operation and is willing to kill Jackie to unless she agrees to ATF protection. Jackie accepts, but decides to play all of the parties off each other. Enlisting the help of bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster), Jackie tries to devise the perfect scheme to hand Ordell over to the cops and get away with the cash. Jackie is pushing 44 and she’s not getting any younger. An easy fifty thousand dollars can help her start a new life. It’s just that she has to deal with pressure from the ATF and threats from Ordell and his thug friend Max (Robert DeNiro).
The film was based upon Elmore Leonard’s novel Rum Punch. The film takes incredible liberties with the subject matter, but it works. Quentin Tarantino managed to craft a tale that would’ve made the likes of Jack Hill and Arthur Marks weep with envy. What really worked for me was the setup of this being a Blaxploitation flick for the folks that had grown up. What happens when you get too old for the Ghetto and desperately want a better life? That single conceit was more interesting to me than the crime elements. And, that’s where I think the film’s strength was found. I was so enamored with Jackie’s character that everything outside of her and her love for Max seemed so distant. It was an urban love story for two time losers who just want a better life and that was beautiful. Sure, Max’s decision on how to handle Melanie (Bridget Fonda) and her constant nagging was funny. But, it all comes back to Jackie Brown and Max Cherry for me.
The Blu-Ray comes with over three hours of special features, but the majority of the material has been ported over from the Special Edition DVD. The only new supplemental material that I saw was a new interview with Tarantino that looked back at his Neo-Blaxploitation classic. What’s nice is that all of the classic Pam Grier and Robert Forster trailers have been moved over with a Play All function that keeps the original dynamic for each trailer. The A/V Quality is the selling point, as the 1080p transfer is the definitive way to view this movie. I swear that I never thought “Jackie Brown” would be a reference quality before seeing this BR disc. The DTS-HD 5.1 master audio track is pretty strong, but this transfer is what makes this one of the best discs of 2011. I’d recommend a purchase.
RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW!
