Kangaroo Jack (2003)

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.

Director:

David McNally

Writers:

Steve Bing (story), Barry O'Brien (story),

Stars:

Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson, Estella Warren

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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
Marco Sellitto	...	Blasta (as Mark Sellitto)
Damien Fotiou	...	Baby J
Christopher Baker	...	Crumble
Ryan Gibson	...	Hoon
Denise Roberts	...	Tansy
Antonio Vitiello	...	Toot

Storyline

A comedy that follows the misadventures of two friends from Brooklyn who are forced to deliver mob money to Australia. While taking pictures of a kangaroo, one of them places his red jacket on it. When the wild kangaroo bounces off, they realize the mob money is in the jacket and are forced to give chase through the Outback.

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Plot Keywords:

mob | kangaroo | money | australia | new york | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for language, crude humor, sensuality and violence

Details

Official Sites:

official site [uk] Warner Bros [fr]

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 2003 (USA)

Also Known As:

Canguro Jack

Filming Locations:

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$259,928 (Spain) (25 July 2003)

Gross:

$259,928 (Spain) (25 July 2003)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Castle Rock Entertainment, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Inspired by an urban legend about a pair of Boston college students on break in Australia. While driving through the Outback, they accidentally hit a kangaroo with their Land Rover. Thinking they had killed it, they got out and placed the driver's Boston Red Sox jacket on the kangaroo to take a picture before moving on. However, the kangaroo was merely unconscious, and awoke in the midst of the photo-taking. It broke free and took off across the Outback, still wearing the Sox jacket...along with the keys to the Land Rover in the pocket.

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Goofs

When confronted by dingos, the shadows of Charlie and Louis are to the right in the ground level shot, yet the immediately following aerial shot shows the shadows pointing in the exactly opposite direction.

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Quotes

Jessie: So it's safe to assume your not on vacation.
Louis: No. Charlie's stepfather is a mobster back in New York, and he had us sent out here to deliver a package.
Jessie: Oh! And you got me in the middle of this?
Charlie: I am so sorry, Jessie. I never thought this would happen.
Jessie: And you lied to me.

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Crazy Credits

During the usual "Jerry Bruckheimer Production" credit at the beginning of the movie, you can briefly see two kangaroos crossing the street.

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Connections

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

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Soundtracks

"Rock da Juice"
Written by Regis Ducatillon & Ian A.V. Burrell
Performed by The Dude
Courtesy of Universal International Music, B.V.
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

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).