Jackie Brown

Pam Grier is ideally cast as Jackie Brown, a wily flight attendant whose problems start when she's arrested by government agent Michael Keaton

Pam Grier is ideally cast as Jackie Brown, a wily flight attendant whose problems start when she's arrested by government agent Michael Keaton.

How she quietly thinks her way out of trouble is the gist of the slow-burning story, which also features great roles for Samuel L Jackson and Robert De Niro, as two gormless crooks, Bridget Fonda, as a scheming surfer girl, and Robert Forster, as a laconic bail bondsman.

The escape route that Grier cleverly carves out for herself delivers black comic chuckles aplenty in a compulsive tale, impeccably written and directed by Quentin Tarantino.