Samuel L. Jackson's
8 Best Performances
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The performances, the conversations, the style, and the cult feel are what Pulp Fiction is all about.
John Travolta is perfect. Uma Thurman is brilliant with him. Their dance scene is timeless. Samuel L. Jackson
is special and has many unforgettable scenes, receiving the only Oscar nomination of his career.
Robert Forster was Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actor? No way. All I saw was Samuel L. Jackson. He
dominated the show from start to finish and should've been recognized instead. Ordell Robbie is his deepest
character with some of the best lines including "You know, man, I hate to be the kind of nigger that do a
nigger a favor, then bam...hit the nigger up for a favor in return, but I gots to be that kind of nigger."
Samuel L. Jackson first garnered serious attention when he appeared in Jungle Fever which mirrored his
real-life drug addiction so well. As a result, the Cannes Film Festival decided to do something special by
giving him an award for Best Supporting Actor. To this day, Samuel L. Jackson remains the last person to receive
this honor.
This is the best performance by Samuel L. Jackson since Jackie Brown. His character, Abel Turner, is
a cross between Officer Pete Davis (Ray Liotta) and Denzel Washington's Alonzo Harris of Training Day.
The conversations Abel has with his new white neighbor are strange like: "Say, you know, you can listen to
that noise all night long, but when you wake up in the morning, you'll still be white."
Not far from the truth when it comes to the boxing scene during the 90's which eventually did in the sport,
The Great White Hype is stupid, funny, and perfect as Samuel L. Jackson vehicle. Instead of the
shocked-by-electricity hairdo, Samuel L. Jackson dons a turban for the Don King role. At one point,
he meets Vincent Vega who asks for Jules of Pulp Fiction. Then again, how can Vincent be alive since
he was gunned down in the toilet?
During the first forty-five minutes, I was annoyed by the low quality of camera work with heavy reliance on
impressions. Soon thereafter, the course dramatically changed with Samuel L. Jackson becoming a tour de force,
especially when he asked Farley a "spanking" question and did this thing with his eyes as if he's back to
playing Jules Winnfield. He works so well with Kevin Spacey that I've forgotten about the running length.
The remake of Shaft presents a signature performance by Samuel L. Jackson. He has the best lines, and
one memorable scene is when he took care of Malik, forcing him to say his name repeatedly, and then warned
him to stay away from one particular kid, "You see him coming, you run for your motherfucking life. You got
that?" Hence, the movie poster reads: "STILL THE MAN. ANY QUESTIONS?"
One Eight Seven is a rare 90's film with Samuel L. Jackson in the leading role. The
story is so compelling that it's easy to tell a teacher wrote the screenplay which is of the same kind
as Blackboard Jungle, Up the Down Staircase, Class of 1984, and Lean on Me.
Good intentions remain the same for teachers, but the students are edgier and harder to reach and the
administrators are more impossible to rely on.
Honorable Mentions:
Die Hard with a Vengeance (1995),
Coach Carter (2005),
Fresh (1994),
and
Le violon rouge (1998)
Updated:
9/9/25