Kangaroo Jack (2003)

User Rating:

4.1/10   

Director:

David McNally

Writers (WGA):

Steve Bing (story) &
Barry O'Brien (story) ...

Release Date:

17 January 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime

Tagline:

He stole the money... and he's not giving it back.

Plot:

Two childhood friends, a New York hairstylist and a would-be musician, get caught up with the mob and are forced to deliver $50,000 to Australia, but things go haywire when the money is lost to a wild kangaroo.

Plot Keywords:

Mob | Kangaroo | Money | Australia | Jacket

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sat. July 18	6:00 AM	HBO
Fri. July 24	6:30 PM	HBO

Cast

Jerry O'Connell	...	Charlie Carbone
Anthony Anderson	...	Louis Booker
Estella Warren	...	Jessie
Christopher Walken	...	Salvatore 'Sal' Maggio
Marton Csokas	...	Mr. Smith
Dyan Cannon	...	Anna Carbone
Michael Shannon	...	Frankie Lombardo
Bill Hunter	...	Blue
David Ngoombujarra	...	Sr. Sgt. 'Mr. Jimmy' Inkamala, Australian Police
Mark Sellito	...	Blasta (as Mark Sellitto)
Damien Fotiou	...	Baby J
Christopher Baker	...	Crumble
Ryan Gibson	...	Hoon
Denise Roberts	...	Tansy
Antonio Vitiello	...	Toot

Also Known As:

Down and Under (Australia) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language, crude humor, sensuality and violence.

Runtime:

89 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Malaysia:U | USA:PG (certificate #39365) | Netherlands:AL | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | France:U | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Brazil:Livre | Denmark:A | Finland:K-11 | Germany:6 | India:U | New Zealand:PG | Peru:PT | Philippines:G | Singapore:PG | South Korea:All | Sweden:7 | Switzerland:10 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:10 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Switzerland:8 (canton of the Grisons) | UK:PG

Filming Locations:

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia

Company:

Castle Rock Entertainment

Trivia:

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer added a scene where the title kangaroo talks after seeing the success of the Disney release Snow Dogs (2002), which used a similar plot device.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Charlie and Louis are walking through the desert, their shirts are on/off between shots.

Quotes:

Charlie: It's you.
Kangaroo Jack: Yeah, it's me. Love the jacket, Charlie. It's hard to get something that fits my shoulders. Nice! How did you know Red was my favorite color?
Charlie: [surprised] You can talk!
Kangaroo Jack: And I can sing.
[sings "Rapper's Delight"]
Charlie: This is great.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Scrubs: My Self-Examination (#3.21)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

Hey Baby

Not Bad But Not Good Either

Producer Jerry Bruckheimer adapts his buddy formula for the adolescent set and the result is pretty much what you'd expect from him: an attempt to push the envelope by delivering enough sex and violence to titillate the pre-teens who are likely to be the primary audience and who will know something funky's going on even if they don't get it. Other than that, there's really nothing left to comment on in this chase comedy about a kangaroo that's holding fifty thousand dollars worth of mob money in the Australian outback. It's not bad, necessarily (the kids will love it and the digital effects as far as the kangaroo is concerned are okay), but it's not good either: everything wallows in mediocrity, from the unfunny script (by Steve Bing and Scott Rosenberg, one of the writers of `High Fidelity') that can't even provide decent scatological humor to David NcNally's faceless direction to the blank performances by leads Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson and Estella Warren. Even the chase scenes drone on and on. About the only things of interest are wondering how low Christopher Walken can go for a paycheck and marveling at Dyan Cannon's remarkable sixty-five year old body (even though she's only in the movie about fifteen seconds).