History Film / JackieBrown

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Ordell ruthlessly disposes of anyone who might be tempted to cut a deal with the authorities. He has Beaumont killed because he's facing a lengthy prison sentance so he's bound to cut a deal or cost him money by going on the run. He's ready to kill Jackie until he finds her gun pointing at his dick, and clearly intends to dispose of her in the long run. And when Lois informs him [[spoiler:he's killed Melanie, Ordell grills him on whether she's actually dead because her still being alive could cause problems--he then kills Lois right after this, to remove that potential witness too (though also because YouHaveFailedMe).]]

-->'''Ordell:''' Is that what I think it is?

* DramaticGunCock: Jackie reveals herself to have a hidden gun by cocking it, just as Max realizes on the other side of the split-screen that his gun is gone.

* GroinAttack: Jackie points her stolen revolver at Ordell's crotch to get him to back off.

** Also chillingly illustrated in Ordell's line:

** He also kills [[spoiler:Beaumont]] because he thinks he ''might'' fail him.
-->'''Louis:''' Who's that?\\
'''Ordell:''' That's [[spoiler:Beaumont]].\\
'''Louis:''' Who's [[spoiler:Beaumont]]?\\
'''Ordell:''' A employee I had to [[{{Understatement}} let go]].
** And he also [[spoiler:plots to kill Jackie]] for exactly the same reasons. Really, Ordell seems to live by this trope.
* YouUsedToBeBetterSpeech: Ordell gives a quick one to Louis before [[spoiler:he kills him]].

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Melanie is Ordell's kept woman, and gets eyes for Louis when she learns he's done four years for bank robbery, though she'll apparently hit AnythingThatMoves.

* AnythingThatMoves: Ordell is unsurprised that Louis had sex with his girl while he was away, commenting that he knew she would do so if he left them alone for just two minutes.

* TheRedStapler: {{Invoked}} early on when Ordell talks about how everyone wants to buy a pair of .45 caliber handguns because they saw them in a [[Film/TheKiller movie]], except the version they want has serious jamming issues, and the much more reliable model is virtually unknown.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Melanie. In ''Rum Punch'', she is constantly referred to by Ordell as "my fine big girl," and is described as, if not actually fat, having very large breasts and backside. Here, she's a super-skinny supermodel.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Melanie is barefoot in nearly every scene she has.

* EnragedByIdiocy: Ordell yells at Louis for not only needlessly murdering Melanie over her mockery, but failing to notice Max during the scam. This, combined with him being scammed, drives Ordell to kill Louis.

* SexyStewardess: Jackie, obviously.
* ShesGotLegs: There are a lot of lingering shots of Melanie/Bridget Fonda's long, sun-kissed legs.

** There's the scene that focuses on Louis continuously walking through the parking lot to the getaway car [[spoiler:right after shooting Melanie]].

* ArmsDealer: Ordell, selling an AK-47:

''Jackie Brown'' (1997), the third film from director Creator/QuentinTarantino, serves as his subtle homage to {{Blaxploitation}}. The eponymous Jackie Brown (Creator/PamGrier), a burnt-out middle-aged flight attendant, routinely smuggles money across the border from Mexico; during the course of the film, Jackie becomes entangled in the lives of gun runner Ordell Robbie (Creator/SamuelLJackson), his ex-convict friend Louis (Creator/RobertDeNiro), Louis' piece of hot tail Melanie (Creator/BridgetFonda), bail bondsman Max Cherry (Creator/RobertForster), an ATF officer (Creator/MichaelKeaton), and an LAPD officer (Creator/MichaelBowen).

When the authorities discover Jackie's smuggling, they put together a sting operation where Jackie will implicate Ordell in the money smuggling so the ATF can take him down. The ATF promises to clear Jackie of the outstanding charges against her, but she only goes free if the plan goes off without a hitch. When Jackie finds out Ordell plans on smuggling in more money than normal, she keeps the information from the ATF and works out a plan of her own to keep all the money for herself while gaining her freedom. With Max's help, Jackie could pull it off, but she must outsmart the cops, Louis, ''and'' Ordell…

As a film, it is somewhat different that the usual Tarantino fare, being probably the closest he will ever get to "real life". Ordell is much closer to life (relatively) in its portrayal of a charismatic yet paranoid thug and Jackie's plan and romance with Max Cherry are full of subtleties and meaningful conversations about getting old and beginning again in a harsh life. Its climax is also much less bombastic than most, but don't take that as meaning it is less bloody.

The novel ''Literature/RumPunch'' by Creator/ElmoreLeonard served as the basis for this film's story, which probably explains why it is the least Tarantino-esqe of Tarantino's films.

** Jackie and Max have a conversation about getting old and growing tired. Their actors, Creator/PamGrier and Robert Forster, had been big stars in the seventies but their stars had waned by the time they took this movie. Ironically, this movie revitalized their careers.
** During the sequence where Ordell is watching TV with Louis, the phone rings and he goes to the kitchen. In the fridge there's a picture of Creator/SamuelLJackson naked inside a bath tub. This pic is from his role in ''Film/{{Goodfellas}}''.

* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Melanie. In ''Rum Punch'', she is constantly referred to by Ordell as "my fine big girl," and is described as, if not actually fat, having very large breasts and backside. Here she's a supermodel.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Melanie is Ordell's kept woman and gets eyes for Louis when she learns he's done four years for bank robbery, though she'll apparently hit AnythingThatMoves.

* AntiClimax: [[spoiler:Ordell is killed off quickly by the cops.]]
* AnythingThatMoves: Ordell reveals that he knew Melanie would have sex with Louis if he left them alone for two minutes.

-->When you want to kill every motherfucker in the room, accept no substitutes!

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:Jackie and Max pull off their scheme without a hitch, but Max decides he's [[SillyRabbitRomanceIsForKids too old for romance]], and Jackie leaves him behind, though the film indicates that at best, they would remain in correspondence.]]
* {{Blaxploitation}}: This is Tarantino's tribute to the genre. The way the soundtrack, lighting, and casting (particularly of Pam "Film/FoxyBrown" Grier) are used is quite similar to the style of such films.
* BrandX: A substantial amount of screen time takes place in the Billingsley department store, which is really the Del Amo Fashion Center's Macy's.

* CastingGag: Creator/SidHaig played villainous characters in a lot of blaxpoitation films opposite Creator/PamGrier; in this film, he has a cameo as a judge. He refuses the prosecution's request for an increased bail amount and gives Jackie a quick smile before departing. When filming the scene, Grier (who didn't know he had been cast) was so shocked to see him in a lawful role that she burst out laughing.
* TheChessmaster: Jackie. She escapes an angry Creator/SamuelLJackson with [[WhamLine four words]]: [[spoiler:"He's got a gun!"]]
* ClusterFBomb: Well, duh.
* ColorblindCasting: In the novel, the protagonist was a white woman named Jackie Burke, Creator/QuentinTarantino made changes to get Creator/PamGrier in the role.

* DeathByMocking: [[spoiler:Melanie]] gets shot by Louis over her constant nagging.

* DoYouWantToCopulate: Melanie and Louis are having a conversation when she asks out of the blue: "Wanna fuck?" Louis responds "Yeah", and the scene cuts to them having sex.
* DoesNotLikeShoes: Melanie is barefoot in nearly every scene.
* DramaticGunCock: Jackie reveals herself to have a hidden gun by cocking it, just as Max realizes that his gun is gone.
* EnragedByIdiocy: Ordell yells at Louis for not only needlessly murdering Melanie over her nagging, but failing to notice Max during the scam. This, combined with him being scammed, drives Ordell to kill Louis.
* EstablishingCharacterMusic: Jackie is introduced to "Across 100th Street" by Bobby Womack. The song also plays the film out.

* TheFilmOfTheBook
* FoodAsBribe: Ordell entices Beaumont into accompanying him on an arms deal by promising they'll get chicken and waffles later. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for Beaumont, it was a trap.]]

* GambitPileup: The tagline says it all.
* GroinAttack: Jackie points her stolen revolver at Ordell's crotch.
* {{Jerkass}}: Jackie and Max ain't no complete saints, but Beaumont, Ordell, Melanie and Louis were worse.

* NervesOfSteel: Jackie, like you wouldn't believe.

* NotUsedToFreedom: According to Tarantino's screenplay, Louis, now in his mid-40s, has cumulatively spent more than half his life in prison, and, ''"[w]hile acutely aware of the rhythm of life inside a correction facility, in the real world his timing is thrown. It's like a song he doesn't know the lyrics to but attempt to sing anyway."''

* OffingTheAnnoyance: Louis kills Melanie because she is constantly heckling him for forgetting where he parked their van.

** Ordell was explicitly stated to be a light-skinned black man (i.e. mixed-race), so much so that he can walk through a Neo-Nazi parade unharmed. In the film, he's played by the unambiguously black Samuel L Jackson.

* TheRedStapler: {{Invoked}} early on where Ordell talks about how everyone wants to buy a pair of .45 caliber handguns because they saw them in a [[Film/TheKiller movie]], except the version they want has serious jamming issues, and the much more reliable model is virtually unknown.

* SeanConneryIsAboutToShootYou: With Pam Grier, of course. See the poster for the film, above.
* SeenItAll: Max's attitude has shades of this.

* SirSwearsALot: Every character does a fair amount of it, but Ordell stands out, especially as tension mounts near the end.
* SmallRoleBigImpact: Winston is barely in the movie, but he helps Jackie, Max, and the ATF find Ordell, which leads them to confront Ordell in the end.

* StupidCrooks: Louis turns out to be a monumentally inept crook. He's so nervous that he's sweating, gets lost in the mall, and can't find his car in the parking lot. Melanie mocks him for it the whole time, which makes things worse.

** Melanie, [[spoiler:her refusal to just shut up and stop taunting an armed ex-convict gets her fatally shot]].

** Also chillingly illustrated in Ordell's line;

-->'''Louis:''' Who's that ?
-->'''Ordell:''' That's [[spoiler:Beaumont]].
-->'''Louis:''' Who's [[spoiler:Beaumont]]?
-->'''Ordell:''' A employee I had to [[{{Understatement}} let go]].

* AlasPoorVillain: [[spoiler:Ordell comes across as a pretty nasty piece of work, but he is still likable, and his death is quite a sad moment, as is the buildup to it. He shows a poetic, almost philosophical side and even has some morals in the previous book. He is also visibly shaken by having to kill Louis and his ego has been shattered by the failure of his plans.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Between the two books, the second of which the film is based on. In the first, Ordell and Louis are much younger and full of enthusiasm and fun, and somewhat more principled. Now Ordell is greedier and nastier than ever, and Louis has become extremely lethargic and seems to be falling apart.