Love: an Interpretive Perspective from Max Cherry

“I’m 56 years old. I can’t blame anybody for anything I do.” –Max Cherry

It’s hard for Max to find love. He is a middle-aged man in a small town working a dead-end job that he hates. He struggles to find romantic relationships that have meaning, and no matter how hard he tries, the relationships that he manages to create and sustain are only business clients and casual acquaintances that he meets through his profession.

Max Cherry is a bail bondsman who manages to get by financially while also awkwardly meeting new people by bailing and bonding people in and out of jail. As a result, Max is rarely fulfilled in a romantic relationship. Therefore, to find love again, he must heal from a previous romantic relationship which ended poorly, and as a result, he had a hair-plug-procedure to compensate for his declining appeal due to age. However, for a long period of time, Max has a difficult time redefining love, and although rather ill-defined, love as ambiguous as it may be, seems to have an instinctual meaning within us. As a result, in the film Jackie Brown, Max Cherry undergoes a gradual transformation to find love again and eventually has a complete understanding of the concept of love.

At his core, Max Cherry keeps his love secluded from others, and because of emotional turmoil that he has faced, he rarely ever shows emotion. Therefore, in Jackie Brown, we see Max through several phases of character development, and throughout the furtherance of the plot, the we view Max’s contrasting relationships which ultimately lead him to the woman of his dreams.

Relationship with Ordell Robbie: Acquaintance

Through, his relationship with Ordell, we see Max casually developing a business clientele friendship. Although not the most polite gentleman, Ordell Robbie, a regular crime boss, conducts business with Max Cherry Bail-Bondsman. Therefore, through occasional meetings with Ordell, Max begins to develop a business-clientele relationship by which Max uses to his advantage later in the film. Thanks to several developments in the plot, we see that because of the relationship established with Ordell, Max has leverage against a crime boss which eventually leads to his death.

Max Cherry: Is white guilt supposed to make me forget I’m running a business?

Here we see Max clearly setting boundaries on what can and cannot be said and done while conducting business with Ordell. Max is aware of Ordell’s illegitimate drug and gun trade operation, and he continues to conduct business with him. And while not completely against it, he warns that only because of prior business with him does not acquaint him with the benefits of true friends.

Ordell Robbie: This you and me talking, is this like a lawyer-client thing, and you can’t repeat nothing I tell you?

Max Cherry: You’re not my client until you get busted and I bond you out.

Ordell Robbie: Well, if we ain’t got no — what’s that shit called? — confidentiality, why should I tell you a thing?

Max Cherry: Because you want me to know what a slick guy you are. You got stewardesses bringing you fifty grand…

However, because Ordell continues to deceive Max, he does not have the privilege of confidentiality which is yet another trait that defines a healthy relationship. In Ordell’s case, he does a poor job forming a healthy friendship with Max primarily because of his lack of honesty as well as the simplicity of a business clientele relationship.

Relationship with Winston Powell: Friend

The true friendly giant Winston Powell is loyal and devoted to working with Max. Winston’s character serves as a gentle giant throughout the film. We as the audience view Winston as a helpful and friendly worker at Max’s Bail-Bonds business, and because of the amicable dialogue shared between him and Max, we see not only a loyal friend but a solid business relationship as well. Throughout, occasional scenes in the film, Winston proves his practicality by not only developing a dialogue that furthers his and Max’s relationship but using his position as a large muscular man to Max’s and the A.T.F.’s advantage to assist in the arrest of Ordell Robbie.

Max Cherry: You’re right, that was Ordell. You have time, you think you could find out for me where he’s staying?

Winston Powell: Cops can’t locate him, huh?

Max Cherry: They don’t have your winning personality.

Winston Powell: Sure thing. I don’t have to know what I’m doing, long as you know.

Max Cherry: I think I do. Is that good enough?

Here we see that Winston uses another one of his many talents to track down and find more information on their person of interest. Intrigued at the cops’ inability to locate Ordell, Winston offers his help with discretion as long as Max has some idea as to what that job might be. Essentially, Winston’s and Max’s friendship stems from a mutual respect and because of the dialogue that Winston and Max share, we see that the two have an open-communication policy which is vital to any healthy relationship no matter what nature.

Relationship with Jackie Brown: Lover

Through, his profession, Max meets a beautiful woman and he is immediately in love. As Max is smitten with love, he finally begins to find passion for another human being whether Jackie feels it or not. When Max goes to bailout Jackie, he feels something that he hasn’t felt in a long time. Because, of his feelings toward Jackie, he becomes interested in her wellbeing and begins to ask her about Ordell and her involvement with him — less of an interrogation and more of a way to get to know her. After learning more about Ordell and his business, Max feels obligated to not only care for Jackie but provide for her in a way that no one else could.

Jackie Brown: Max, how do you feel about getting old?

Max Cherry: You’re not old. You look great…

Here we see that Max is attempting to complement, Jackie on her physical appearance, and while Max clearly is infatuated with every part of her being, he seizes the opportunity to do so. Therefore, the two share a romance which only exists between two individuals who truly feel passionate about one another. This passion not only dictates actions but, how a person can change another person’s integral being.

Jackie Brown: I’ll send you a postcard.

Max Cherry: Will you?

Jackie Brown: I sure will partner.

Jackie Brown: You’re running a business Max.

Max Cherry: [answers phone] Cherry Bail Bonds. Uh, What is it your son’s charged with?

Max Cherry: Yes, that’s a very serious offense. Is your son still in school? Does his father still live in the house? Could I excuse myself? Would you call me back in about half an hour? Yes, thank you.

Finally, we see the two giving their goodbyes, essentially telling each other that they will keep in touch. Ultimately, although Jackie and Max only share a business clientele relationship at first, the two share moments of ignorant bliss throughout the film that advance their relationship. Thus, because the two complement each other fundamentally, Jackie and Max build off of each other’s strengths while enjoying their time together. Therefore, with the two relationships work to fulfill each other in some fashion.

The innate elements of love which include honesty, open communication, and love romance not only advance the human race but instinctually give us reason to live. Through the necessity of honesty and open communication a relationship will survive; however, without an integral part — passion — love could not exist. Ultimately, Max Cherry’s contrasting relationships in the film Jackie Brown not only define his character but allow us to view his perspective on love and his fundamental characteristics that take his role from an otherwise two-dimensional character to a dynamic three-dimensional protagonist. Overall, thanks to his relationships throughout Jackie Brown, we as an audience have the opportunity to better understand Max Cherry character’s perspective on love both holistically and fundamentally.

Works Cited

“Jackie Brown (film).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

“The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb).” Jackie Brown Script at IMSDb. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

Thefilmleague. “Jackie Brown — Max Cherry Is God.” YouTube. YouTube, 12 Mar. 2012. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

“Max Cherry (Character) Quotes.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

“Robert Forster.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.

ScreenSlam. “ScreenSlam — JACKIE BROWN: Interview with Robert Forster.” YouTube. YouTube, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 04 Apr. 2016.