A lot of Quentin Tarantino’s characters have become iconic in pop culture, but Robert Forster’s performance as bail bondsman Max Cherry inJackie Brownremains criminally underrated. Tarantino’s characters are what made him such a renowned writer-director. He writes characters that have a distinctive voice and humanize genre archetypes. He can write a mob hitman who’s sympathetic, he can write a sociopathic killer who’s oddly charismatic, and he can write an S.S. colonel who’s as intuitive as Sherlock Holmes. WhenTarantino’s 10-movie careeris over, his characters will be his most lasting legacy.
Tarantino writes fascinating characters that actors like Uma Thurman and Samuel L. Jackson can really sink their teeth into, and he’s adept at directing those actors to give three-dimensional performances in their roles. There are a ton ofperformances from Tarantino moviesthat have become legendary, from Christoph Waltz’s turn as Hans Landa inInglourious Basterdsto Brad Pitt’s turn as Cliff Booth inOnce Upon a Time in Hollywood. But Forster’s performance inJackie Brownis still an underappreciated gem.
Robert Forster In Jackie Brown Is The Most Underrated Acting Performance In Any Quentin Tarantino Movie
Forster Brought Plenty Of Emotional Depth To Max Cherry
After relaunching John Travolta’s career withPulp Fiction, Tarantino became known for revitalizing the careers of fading movie stars. With his next film,Jackie Brown, he cast two Hollywood icons who had fallen by the wayside. Blaxploitation legend Pam Grier played the title character, a flight attendant pitting a gangster and the feds against each other, whileMedium Coolstar Robert Forster played her love interest, bail bondsman Max Cherry. Although Forster received the film’s only Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, his performance still doesn’t get enough love.
Although Forster received the film’s only Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, his performance still doesn’t get enough love.
Forster’s portrayal of Max, and his love story with Grier’s Jackie, isa heartwarming portrait of older people finding love later in life. Tarantino has written a lot of romances throughout his career, from the forbidden romantic tension between Vincent and Mia inPulp Fictionto the lovers-on-the-run thrill-ride ofTrue Romance, butJackie Brownis the only one that doesn’t feel like a genre fantasy.Jackie and Max’s love for each other feels real, and Grier’s chemistry with Forster sells it.
Why Jackie Brown Is An Underrated Quentin Tarantino Movie In General
Jackie Brown Is Tarantino’s Most Mature Movie
The fact that Forster’s performance inJackie Brownis underrated is indicative of a larger problem: thatJackie Brownitself remains Tarantino’s most underrated film.Jackie Brownis Tarantino’s only adaptationof another writer’s work — Elmore Leonard’sRum Punch— andbeing beholden to existing source material gave Tarantino’s filmmaking a restraint that can’t be seen in his other movies.Jackie Brownis Tarantino’s most mature and realistic movie; it shows that he could’ve had a career in classical Hollywood filmmaking.
