Jackie Brown is an airline stewardness who is arrested for smuggling money into America, thus falling victim to a plot by the FBI to undo her boss, who is trafficking in illegal weapons. Jackie finds herself in a no-win situation, and her attempts to walk the tightrope between the two opposing factions gives the screenplay its unbearable tension.

Jackie Brown emerges as one of Quentin Tarantino's most extraordinary characters as she pulls the old-bait-and-switch routine, playing the good guys off against the bad guys.