Jack (1996)

An all-star cast are recruited together to tell the tale of a 10-year old boy whose body grows 4 times that of a normal kid his age.

Robin Williams ('Hook') is great as the title role, while Fran Drescher ('The Nanny') and Jennifer Lopez ('Money Train') are also fantastic. Bill Cosby is also here, as good as ever.

The storyline and scripting is good (nothing great) and the acting is first-class... even the kids have some talent!

A feel-good family film that has some very funny moments and some very sad moments, but all-in-all a really good film. 7/10.

Fmovies: This could have been an absolutely wonderful film, but due to a one big criticism it remains a nice film, in all the bog-standard sense of the word.

Robin Williams plays the part of a 10-year old trapped in a 40-year old's body, but the big problem is that we can't help but see Robin Williams himself. Anyone that has seen his stand-up comedy will know that Williams is exactly that (10 years old trapped in a body 30 years senior). Whilst his performance would have been quite believable, the film would have worked much better with a lesser-known actor (even one not known for comedy) in the role. I still cannot believe that the great FFC directed this film - it defies all movie sense. However he has done a fine job, and the cast work well together. Miss Lopez makes a very appealing schoolteacher (only in Hollywood!!), and the child actors work hard.

Good fun, but you may find yourself frustrated.

Many reviewers have compared this work to Tom Hanks's Big, wherein a young boy wishes he were "big," and the wish is granted. However, this work is the anti-thesis of that work, as an adult portrays a young child, physically, which thrusts Jack into the same venue as Martin Short's "Clifford," which was done some two years prior to this work.

That not withstanding, Clifford was a holy terror, while Jack is a mother's dream. While both works require a total suspension of belief in order to enjoy them, Jack is endearing, sweet, sentimental, and entertaining. There is nothing endearing, sweet, or sentimental about Clifford.

Jack is born with a genetic disorder which causes him to age 4 years for every 10, thereby causing him to appear as a 40 year old man at the age of 10.

Many have bludgeoned Coppola's involvement in such a scheme, citing his prior "masterpiece" works while bemoaning this one. The fans seem to forget that artistic people who do not spread their wings, and plant their feet on strange ground, never grow as individuals and artists.

Some found this work "insulting" due to the premise. It is called unintelligent. But not all films are based on intellect, and not all movie-goers care to have to think in order to enjoy a movie. And there is the added benefit of the heartwarming sentiment carried by this work.

It did well in the box office, nearly doubling its budget, worldwide, and is generally under-rated here at IMDb (if only mildly so), which says that word of mouth (that this film wasn't as bad as the critics said) carried this film further than the negative reviews would have liked.

It rates a 6.2/10 from...

the Fiend :.

Jack fmovies. Pregnant Diane Lane goes into labor after only two months, delivering a healthy-seeming baby boy (when she pleads "it's too soon!" to her husband in the delivery room, it's rather an understatement). Doctors have never seen another child like this, yet quickly determine the boy has an internal clock which is ahead of itself by four times the average rate (meaning that when Jack is 10-years old, he'll look like a man of 40). Talk about your movie gimmicks! All that aside, what we really have here is Robin Williams back in grade school, and that provides for some good, if derivative, humor. The performances are all fine and, while the set-up may sound inexcusable, "Jack" isn't a silly movie (at least, not at its core). Williams manages to hold back a bit from his usual barrage of vocal effects and facial expressions, and a few of his scenes are peddled quite softly (as they were in "Awakenings"). There are some scenes that go over-the-top: Jack's gross-talking school-friends are a nuisance, and some viewers may get defensive when Coppola starts tugging at the heartstrings. Otherwise, this is a warm family comedy, one with a bigger heart than it knows what to do with. **1/2 from ****

I'm sorry, but just having read a few of the comments on here I am absolutely astounded! The problem is that what people seem to be doing here is reviewing the film as one whole pot, where as that is not how it works. I film has so many layers that it is impossible to tell how great it is without reviewing them all. Everyone seems to look at the plot and disregard it straight away when the acting in it is so unbelievable. Robin Williams may well be a very childish man but this went so beyond anything that can even come close to a normal personality, he is completely convincing 100% of the time, at no point in the movie do you ever doubt his being only 10 years old. This film may have a strange plot and weirdly written but the acting is phenomenal and William's is, of course, the star in the show. I actually feel very sorry for the actors around him in this, how can they possibly shine when with him and they were all great as well so that just heightens Williams' ability. This is a fantastic film simply because of Robin Williams!

If you give this movie a chance, let your imagination go and you will believe (if you WANT to) that Robin Williams *is* a ten year old boy. I was surprised at how much I actually liked it. The premise sounds weak, but they did a fairly good job with it. The kids in the movie are great....... and the term "boys will be boys" is never as true as in the 'treehouse' scene. Watch it if you have boys ! You'll know what I mean! There is little if any 'language' in this movie ; no shoot-em-ups; no sex...the family can watch this together safely. Enjoy and let your imagination go... be a kid again!