Benjamin's Stash: Video Pick of the Week

      Hello, readers. I already mentioned this on Facebook, but not here yet. By the way, speaking of which, if you're not subscribed to my Facebook page, do me a favor by gently tapping your mouse over to the right of the page and clicking "like" for the page. Anyway, this and yesterday's "What the Hell Were They Thinking?!" will be the last posts for 2013. They'll resume January of next year when I reveal the new, revamped site I'm working on, which I'll keep you posted on. The weekly film reviews for the remainder of this year will still continue. Having said that, here's the last weekly video recommendation of this year.

      Jackie Brown focuses on a group of characters centered around a drug smuggling deal. Arms dealer Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson), who lives with perpetually stoned beach-babe Melanie (Bridget Fonda), reunites with his old buddy Louis Gara (Robert De Niro), who has just been released from prison after serving four years for armed robbery. Meanwhile, ATF agent Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) busts stewardess Jackie Brown (Pam Grier), who was smuggling money into the country for Ordell. Ordell bails Jackie, but when bail bondsman Max Cherry (Robert Forster) picks her up at the jail, he becomes attracted to her, and that's when Jackie is faced with an important choice to make.

      Jackie Brown is by far Tarantino's most restrained film. It's also his most underrated. Like any Tarantino film, the dialogue is witty and fresh, the characters are vibrant and well developed and even though it clocks in at around two and a half hours, the pacing is smooth. With Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Michael Keaton, Bridget Fonda and Robert De Niro gracing the screen, this is an exceptionally gifted cast that fit their respective characters perfectly. Tarantino deservedly gets praise for his writing and directing, but I don't think he gets enough credit for making sure the people he gets for his films fit their parts like a glove. Grier and Forster have great chemistry. Samuel L. Jackson is icy cold as the hitman Ordell. De Niro is surprisingly yet very effectively restrained as an ex-con trying to get back on track, and Fonda is too perfect as the blond beach bunny hooking up with Jackson's Ordell. This is not the type of film you'd expect from Tarantino. The story (based on Elmore Leonard's Rum Punch) is much smaller in scale and he wisely avoids being a one trick pony by not falling back on the usual structure of his that made him famous. As I just said though, it's Quentin's most underrated film and it's a shame it doesn't get as much recognition as his other films do. Following both Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown proved Tarantino wasn't a one to two hit wonder, but a filmmaking force to be reckoned with.