This film was released in 1997 and starred Pam Grier (who was nominated for a Golden Globe award for Best Actress), Samuel L. Jackson (ditto for Best Actor), and Robert Forster (nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor). The movie was based on the book Rum Punch by Elmore Leonard, though director Quentin Tarantino adapted the book into a screenplay tailor-made for Grier, whose "blaxploitation" flicks in the 70s such as Black Mama, White Mama and Foxy Brown he admired. He intended the script to rekindle Grier's career, as Pulp Fiction had done for John Travolta.

This is not your typical, frenetic blood drenched Tarantino flick (though there's still some moments of shocking violence they're a lot less gory than Tarantino's norm), which may be why it wasn't received as well as Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs. Given that most of the actors in the movie are middle aged, that makes sense, and as such, the movie's more thoughtful and introspective.

The plot of the movie is a typical man done me wrong, so now this foxy black mama's gonna kick some ass vehicle for Grier but its slow, measured pace, A-list cast and stellar performances from the leads transform it into something special, and makes a wonderful contrast when compared to Tarantino's more well known movies. Grier and Forster in particular have a slow burn chemistry between them that's simply amazing to watch. Their characters have both been around the block more than once, and neither of them give their trust easily. The audience might suspect that Jackie's just using Forster's Max Cherry as a mean to her own ends, but Cherry's fully aware of that fact, and willingly lets himself be used in order to be part of Brown's vibrant ... and seductive ... life. It's one of the sexiest romances I've ever witnessed onscreen, and all the characters ever share is a kiss between them!

With this movie, Tarantino proved he could slow himself down and grow himself up a bit and make a movie that would appeal to a different audience than he usually draws.

And Grier looks damned stunning in that pantsuit ...

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