Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)

Director:

Penny Marshall

Writers:

David Franzoni (story)
David Franzoni (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

10 October 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

A Dangerously Funny Movie

Plot:

Terry works for a bank, and uses computers to communicate with clients all over the world. One day she gets a strange message from an unknown source...

Plot Keywords:

Bank | Computer | Telephone Booth | KGB | Apartment

Cast

Whoopi Goldberg	...	Terry Dolittle
Stephen Collins	...	Marty Phillips
John Wood	...	Jeremy Talbott
Carol Kane	...	Cynthia
Annie Potts	...	Liz Carlson
Peter Michael Goetz	...	James Page
Roscoe Lee Browne	...	Archer Lincoln
Sara Botsford	...	Lady Sarah Billings
Jeroen Krabbé	...	Mark Van Meter (as Jeroen Krabbe)
Vyto Ruginis	...	Carl
Jonathan Pryce	...	Jack
Tony Hendra	...	Hunter
Jon Lovitz	...	Doug, 1st National Bank
Phil Hartman	...	Fred, 1st National Bank (as Phil E. Hartmann)
Lynne Marie Stewart	...	Karen, 1st National Bank

Also Known As:

Knock, Knock (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

100 min | West Germany:105 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | West Germany:12 | Australia:M | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #27449)

Filming Locations:

Greystone Park & Mansion - 905 Loma Vista Drive, Beverly Hills, California, USA

Company:

Lawrence Gordon Productions

Trivia:

Kellie Martin's film debut.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Lady Sara tells Terry that MI5 helped her get the exit contact for Jack. MI5 is concerned with Internal Security in Britain. Since Jack was out of the country, MI6 (external security) would be the agency establishing an exit contact.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Male Broadcaster: [click] ... House has issued a series of clarifications of several of the President's statements at his nationally televised news conference last night. In addition to responding to a question about abortion with a three-minute answer about taxes and confusing his Attorney General with his Chief of Staff...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Saturday Night Live: The Best of Chris Rock (1999) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Jumpin' Jack Flash

A Solid, Entertaining, and First Time Suspenseful Comedy

At times Whoopi Godberg goes too far and becomes weird and at other times brings her own unique, frolicking fresh comedy that outshines most traditional comic gaps. Sometimes the plot is convoluted from logical belief and at other times grips with a sizzling suspenseful twist. This movie is a mixed bag, but has a nice espionage storyline that holds up well especially considering this is an early mix of both serious spy drama with comic humor, a usually impossibly difficult blend to get right. There are some old new young faces here. The main plot point of rarely actually seeing one of the main characters is intriguing and unique to this movie, one of its claim of fame. Repeated viewing isn't recommended very often, as part of the compelling nature of this movie is its mystery action theme which gets somewhat old and helps to keep the movie going along with the usually balance drama-comic high points.