Jackie Brown MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +3 Content: -2

States from Mexico for gunrunner Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). ATF agent Ray Nicolet (Michael Keaton) and Los Angeles policeman Lt. Mark Dargus (Michael Bowen) coerce Brown into helping them catch Robbie by threatening her with prosecution. But Jackie is afraid that cooperating with them may ruin her career and endanger her life. Her solution is to double-cross both the federal agents and Robbie. With the aid of Max Cherry (Robert Forster), a bail bondsman who has fallen in love with the flight attendant, Jackie plans to make off with $500,000 of her boss's emergency fund. The plan seems to be working until both the feds and the gunrunner discover they have been betrayed. The plot twists, strong characterizations and visual styling that has become a trademark of Director Quentin Tarantino films will undoubtedly make Jackie Brown a box office success, and possibly a major hit. ATF Agent Nicolet is portrayed as strong, ethical and honest. He subtly refuses the hints of Jackie to keep part of the cash they are using to trap the gunrunner. Bail bondsman Cherry, too, is a sympathetic character wise in the ways of law who wants to help, but becomes corrupted by his involvement in Jackie's swindle.

Particularly objectionable is not only the intensity of the offensive language but the sheer volume of it. Over two dozen profanities and almost 200 obscenities pollute the dialogue, including the f-word 127 times. Just as offensive, however, is the sympathetic treatment of lawbreakers who succeed in life by cheating law enforcement. Violence is limited to three shootings, but in only one is the victim shown. Sex and nudity are much tamer than in other recent R movies. A fully clothed couple engage in sex, although they are only seen from the waist up. Near nudity includes a woman in a bikini top and others in bikini swimsuits. While the film is reminiscent of the old classic gangster films with very little on-screen sex and violence, the incessant filthy language is very offensive.

Preview Reviewer: Al Hunt
Distributor: Miramax Films, 375 Greenwich, NY, NY