1996 film by Francis Ford Coppola
Jack is a 1996 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The film stars Robin Williams, Diane Lane, Jennifer Lopez, Fran Drescher, Bill Cosby, and Brian Kerwin. Williams plays the role of Jack Powell, a boy who ages four times faster than normal as a result of a unique medical condition.
Jack was released in the United States on August 9, 1996. The film received negative reviews from critics, and grossed $78 million against its $45 million budget.
Plot
During a costume party, guest Karen Powell goes into labor and is rushed to the hospital by her husband Brian and their friends. The baby, named Jack, inexplicably looks full-term and healthy despite having been born at the 10th week of gestation. Medical exams reveal that Jack suffers a unique condition which results in him growing four times faster than normal.
At age 10, Jack has the body of a 40-year-old man. One day, four boys are lurking outside his house, intrigued by rumors of a monster inhabiting it. Jack scares them away by dipping a fake eye into slime and throwing it at them from his window. Jack has grown childish due to this secluded life, only having had socialized with his parents and tutor, Lawrence Woodruff, who suggests that he should attend school. Jack's parents initially reject the suggestion fearing that school could be traumatic to him, but eventually agree.
When he first attends school, Jack is rejected by most kids due to his appearance. His father later gives him some encouragement by installing a basketball hoop to help him learn to fit in. One day, a boy named Louis picks him for his team to play basketball and they end up winning against some bullies. After school, Louis asks Jack to pose as the principal in order to avoid punishment from his mother, Dolores. Afterwards, they become friends and Louis invites him to a clubhouse with the other kids, eventually enlisting him to get adult items for them.
Jack develops his first crush on Miss Marquez, his teacher, and upon her rejection he becomes deeply saddened and collapses going down the stairs. At the hospital, Jack is revealed to have begun developing cardiovascular problems, a sign that he is ageing. Realizing the dangers it might entail for his health, his parents decide to withdraw him from school, which upsets him.
Jack sneaks out of the house and goes to a bar, where he gets drunk and befriends a man named Paulie, and tries to hit on Dolores. However, he gets into a fight and both are arrested. Dolores bails Jack out, and comforts Jack after dropping him off home. He locks himself in his room and does not come out for weeks. Karen speculates that Jack realized the fragility of his life and is now scared of facing the outside world again. Jack also loses interest in learning realizing that he will never be able to use it.
Meanwhile, his friends continue coming to his house, hoping that he will come out and play, but he refuses. Finally, Louis manages to lure Jack out of the house by bringing over the entire class, and spend the day playing in the front yard. The next day Jack decides to go back to school.
Seven years later, an elderly-looking Jack and his four best friends are at their high school graduation. He delivers the valedictorian speech reminding that life is short and encouraging to make the best of it to his classmates, as they all drive off into the future.
Production
In January 1995, it was announced Robin Williams would star in Jack with Francis Ford Coppola set to direct.[3] John Travolta was interested in playing the lead role of Jack but due to an "apology" deal with Robin Williams over royalties from Aladdin, Williams was guaranteed the role.[4]
Release
Jack debuted at number one at the US box office and grossed roughly $58.6 million in the United States and Canada and $78 million worldwide on a budget of $45 million.[1][2]
Reception
Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports that 17% of 35 critics gave the film a positive review, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Robin Williams' childlike energy is channeled in all the wrong places with Jack, a bizarre tragedy that aims for uplift but sinks deep into queasy schmaltz."[5] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 37 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable" reviews.[6] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "B+" on a scale of A+ to F.[7]
Todd McCarthy of Variety called it a "tedious, uneventful fantasy" that wastes the talents of the filmmakers.[8]
Accolades
Jack was nominated for Worst Picture at the 1996 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards but lost to Striptease.[9]
Response from Francis Ford Coppola
About the film's reception, Francis Ford Coppola said: "Jack was a movie that everybody hated and I was constantly damned and ridiculed for. I must say I find Jack sweet and amusing. I don't dislike it as much as everyone, but that's obvious—I directed it. I know I should be ashamed of it but I'm not. I don't know why everybody hated it so much. I think it was because of the type of movie it was. It was considered that I had made Apocalypse Now and I'm like a Marty Scorsese type of director, and here I am making this dumb Disney film with Robin Williams. But I was always happy to do any type of film."[10][better source needed]
Music
The film theme is "Star", performed by Canadian musician Bryan Adams.[11]
