Jackie Brown

Jackie Brown is a 1997 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, based on the 1992 novel Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard. It stars Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton and Robert De Niro. In the film, Jackie Brown (Grier), a flight attendant, becomes embroiled in a battle to smuggle money between the United States and Mexico.

Jackie Brown pays homage to 1970s blaxploitation films, particularly Coffy and Foxy Brown, both of which also starred Grier. It is the only feature-length film directed by Tarantino that was based on another work.

Jackie Brown was released in the United States on December 25, 1997, by Miramax Films. It received positive reviews and grossed $74.7 million worldwide on a $12 million budget. It was both Grier and Forster's first lead role in a major film for many years, and earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for Forster, and Golden Globe Award nominations for Jackson and Grier.

Plot

Jackie Brown, a flight attendant, smuggles money from Mexico into the United States for Ordell Robbie, a gun runner in Los Angeles. When Beaumont Livingston—Ordell's bagman—is arrested, Ordell hires bail bondsman Max Cherry to bail him out. Ordell then lures Beaumont into the trunk of a car and murders him.

Acting on information Beaumont already provided, ATF agent Ray Nicolette and LAPD detective Mark Dargus intercept Jackie with Ordell's cash and a bag of cocaine. After Jackie is sent to jail, Ordell has Max pay her bail. Ordell arrives at Jackie's apartment, but she pulls out a gun she stole from Max's glovebox. She negotiates a deal with Ordell; she will pretend to help the authorities while smuggling in the remaining $550,000 of Ordell's money.