JACKIE BROWN (1997)
Keaton’s turning point came, like so many actors, through Quentin Tarantino. His third (and still possibly best) film Jackie Brown landed Keaton the plum role of Federal Agent Ray Nicolette, joining an ensemble of character actors who ate up Tarantino’s usual flair for dialogue, only improved given he was adapting Elmore Leonard (Keaton, uncredited, would even reprise Nicolette for Steven Soderbergh a year later in his adaptation of Leonard’s Out of Sight).
Once again, however, Keaton didn’t seem to capitalise on a darker, gritter potential career route; subsequent years were fallow, with roles in the poor Christmas kids film Jack Frost and odd, ‘Robert Duvall manages a Scottish football team’ project, A Shot at Glory. From starring opposite Robert de Niro to Ally McCoist in three years.