Home > Drama >

Jack

Watch Now

Jack (1996)

August. 09,1996
|
5.8
|
PG-13
| Drama Comedy Family
Watch Now

Jack Powell suffers from an affliction that makes him grow four times faster than normal, so the 10 year old boy looks like a 40 year old man. After years of being tutored at home, Jack convinces his overprotective parents to send him to public school. The children don't know what to make of Jack, but with the help of his fifth-grade teacher, he makes an effort to win them over.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Hottoceame
1996/08/09

The Age of Commercialism

More
Pacionsbo
1996/08/10

Absolutely Fantastic

More
Lidia Draper
1996/08/11

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

More
Kimball
1996/08/12

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

More
lisafordeay
1996/08/13

Jack is like Brad Pitt's The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button,as it tells the story about a 10 year old boy who looks like a 40 year old due to some genetic condition he has ever since he was born. He goes to school like normal kids and one of his teachers is Jennifer Lopez. The film revolves from Jack as a kid looking like a 40 year old to him being 18 when he looks about 90 years old. If you are a big kid at heart than check it out. I haven't seen this film since 11 or 12 years ago so I have most parts of it forgotten. Diane Lane co stars as Robin Williams mother who is trying to let her son fit in school even though he is sorta having a bad time. 5/10RIP Robin Williams

More
zardoz-13
1996/08/14

If you have ever experienced the paranoia that comes with the dread of fitting in with others, you may identify with the adolescent character that actor Robin Williams plays in "Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola's imaginative comedy drama "Jack," a sensitive, sweet-spirited, feel-good film that costars Bill Cosby. Don't let the inevitable comparisons with the brilliant Tom Hanks comedy "Big" diminish your opinion about "Jack." Both movies manage to complement each other without competing in their chronicles about growing up. Neither should you let the memories of Robin Williams as a rollicking Brunhilda in "Mrs. Doubtfire" mislead you into thinking that "Jack" is all clown-beat without being downbeat."Jack" opens during a Halloween costume party. Karen Powell (Diana Lane of "Streets of Fire") has not been pregnant long enough to attend child-birth classes when she feels her future son kicking to get out. Brian Powell (Brian Kerwin) and a couple of their friends, all variously garbed as the Tin Man, a cigarette pack and a champagne class, rush Karen (dressed as a witch) off to the hospital. In the delivery room, everybody tries to convince Karen that it's a false alert until the doctor realizes that she is indeed about to give birth to a premature baby.Later, during a check-up, the Powells learn that Jack's inner clock ticks considerably faster than most clocks. The doctors guardedly explain to them that a condition that accelerates his growth afflicts poor Jack. When Jack reaches age 10, the doctors predict that he will resemble a 40-year old man. Otherwise, Jack is healthy and normal. Not! The Powells grow so protective of their cute baby with his beanstalk growth that they imprison him in his turret-like room. They hire tutor Lawrence Woodruff (Bill Cosby in a minor but masterly performance) to tech him. Brian and Karen keep Jack out of public school because they fear he would suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous ridicule. Woodruff disagrees with them. He thinks that Jack should not be deprived of the experience of going to school with kids his own age. Jack feels the same way. He chomps at the bit to attend public school. Reluctantly, Brian and Karen cave and escort Jack to school.So off goes Jack—all twinkle-eyed—to school. And not just any school, but an elementary school named after novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne. Initially, Jack's towering hirsute presence makes him an outcast. Although the physical act of growing up may come easily to Jack, mastering the mental feats of maturation pose more difficulties to him than he could ever imagine. Jack experiences many of the problems that the Great Dane who hung out with the dachshunds encountered in the 1966 Dean Jones farce "The Ugly Dachshund."Just when you think that Robin Williams has worn out his welcome, the inventive actor manages to plumb new depths. His funny yet restrained performance of a 10-year old trapped in a the body of a 40-year old negotiating the obstacle course of adolescence probably would garner him an Oscar, but his Jack emerges as more of a character than a clown. Although "Jack" qualifies as a comedy, the film contains enough sharp dramatic turns to hoist it above similar slickly produced but synthetic kid ventures such as Dudley Moore's "Like Father, Like Son" and the 1988 Judge Reinhold movie "Vice Versa."In "Jack," Williams radiates best during those scenes when he discovers that life's silver the silver lining can just as easily turn to lead. A particularly poignant moment occurs when Jack struggles to persuade his fifth-grade teacher, Ms. Marquez (winningly enacted by Jennifer Lopez), to escort him to the school dance. Not only does Jack have a crush on her, but she is also the only person with whom he could dance who was his own height. When she reluctantly rejects him, prepare to be plunged headlong into your handkerchief. Although Robin Williams deserves praise for his charismatic performance, the real genius looking over the shoulders of "Jack" is Coppola. Several critics have savaged Coppola for helming what in their hallowed estimation is a far cry from "Apocalypse Now." Obviously, they forgot that Coppola cranked out his first comedy in 1966 with "You're A Big Boy Now," so the famous director is no stranger to high jinks. Coppola gives "Jack" an artsy-fartsy sophistication. Whenever possible, he presents the adult world from Jack's perspective, so we get a number of interesting shots, such as the instant of birth, the view from a turret window onto the outside world, or a glimpse through a slot in a box at Jack's mother trying to get him to come out and play. Coppola has cleverly crafted every minute of "Jack" for maximum dramatic impact. Coppola fleshes out Williams' superb performance with product references that enhance the juvenile facets of Jack's character. The blinking lights on the heels of Jack's sneakers, for example, are a splendid touch to Williams' shenanigans. Another amusing episode has Williams begging his parents to let him bed down with them, then asking if his "Stimpy" doll can crowd in with them. As Jack's overprotective mom, Diana Lane excels in showing the struggles to deal with a person as fragile as Jack. Of course, Bill Cosby strikes high notes every time he appears without having to steal scenes from Williams. Fran Drescher exudes sexuality but provides more than window dressing as party girl Dolores Durante, the mother of Jack's closest school yard chum, Louis (Adam Zolotin). The bickering duo of girls who harass Jack on the playground are fun to watch, too. "Jack" boasts many wonderful touches. Some touches you may overlook because Coppola so skillfully and invisibly integrates them without appreciating their underlying significance.If the concluding scenes of "Jack" do not move you to tears, you're obviously watching the wrong kind of movie. Ultimately, "Jack" proves that there are more important things in life than size.

More
Terrell Howell (KnightsofNi11)
1996/08/15

Watching this movie is absolutely stunning. Not because it is a good movie, but because this immature, idiotic, brainless mess was directed by the same person who directed The Godfather! How does that happen? How can a man have such an incredible run in the 70's, making literally some of the greatest movies ever made, and then go on to make Jack? But I digress. Jack is the story about a boy who ages four times faster than a normal human being. He lives in his house with his two loving parents and his tutor, played by Bill Cosby. Why Cosby subjected himself to this schlock I don't know, but that's beside the point. After ten years of seclusion Jack realizes he wants to go to school, so his parents reluctantly enter him in public school. It seems the smarter thing to do would have been to put him in private school, but let's face it, there's nothing smart about this film. But anyways, Jack begins to make friends and meet all kinds of new people, his age and older. What is supposed to be a heartwarming tale of friendship and acceptance really just turns into a silly and jumbled mess with a boring story fueled by a poor script.You know your film is set for disaster when it starts with a dumb premise. There's only so many places a premise like this can go, but the film doesn't even make the most out of what little it has to work with. Every situation is predictable, and nothing elicits a laugh, at least not from me. I could blame this on Jack being a kids film, but the problem is, Jack is not a kids film. It's rated PG-13 and has all sorts of innuendo and adult situations. Jack gets his friends adult magazines and they sit in their treehouse talking about erections and women. So I feel like the humor here is supposed to be adult, but I didn't enjoy it at all, but I hardly think a child would either. It's just too stupid and ridiculous to the point where instead of anything being funny, it is all just sort of awkward and forced.By the end of this film it takes a turn towards the serious, but fails just as much here as it did when it was a comedy. This is probably due to the fact that I just had no interest in the characters or their story by this point in the film. Everything that had happened up to this point was just so pathetic and forgettable that it built a wall between me and the films emotion. Maybe under different circumstances in which the first half of the film had been engaging, the last half would have really pulled at me heart strings. But in this case it didn't at all and I could have cared less what happened to Jack and all his friends. Nothing about this film seems real. It all feels like actors delivering a mediocre script, all the while wondering what the hell they are doing on this set for such a bad movie. Then they remember, oh right! I'm getting to work with the genius behind The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Only now he's lost his mind and is directing horrible dramadies.Watching a film like this just makes you want to go back and watch the Coppola classics, just to remind yourself that this man is a genius. And that's the thing. With so many incredible films under his belt, Jack can be easily forgotten and we can all pretend like it never happened. Hell, Coppola could direct Smokey and the Bandit sequels for the rest of his life, but he would still go down in history as one of the greatest directors who ever lived. But even if you take Coppola out of the equation, Jack is still an awful movie with no motivation and no heart behind it. Spare yourself the two hours and avoid this film at all costs.

More
Dr_Death666
1996/08/16

This movie is better than The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather combined. It really does belong in the Top 250, because I think this is the best movie I have ever watched. It combines heartfelt drama with childish comedy. It's about a guy named Jack with a disorder that makes him look 4 times his actual age. The acting is phenomenal, and the movie is just great overall and makes you think about life. It is an imaginative, wonderful movie that I recommend to anyone and everyone, if your 6 years old or 60 years old. Don't listen to the low rating. Watch this incredible movie no matter what any critic says.10/10 or: A+

More