Matching Jack (2010)

A woman struggles with her son's illness and her husband's infidelity, but, after a chance encounter with an Irish sailor and his son, her life is turned upside down in a love story that defies explanation and breaks all the rules.

Director:

Nadia Tass

Writers:

Lynne Renew (story), Lynne Renew,

Stars:

Jacinda Barrett, Richard Roxburgh, Tom Russell

3 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jacinda Barrett	...	Marissa
Richard Roxburgh	...	David
Tom Russell	...	Jack
James Nesbitt	...	Connor
Kodi Smit-McPhee	...	Finn
Yvonne Strahovski	...	Veronica
Colin Friels	...	Professor Nelson
Julia Blake	...	Cleo
Marg Downey	...	Nurse Celia
Daniela Farinacci	...	Ange
Alexandra Schepisi	...	Janice
Nicole Gulasekharam	...	Kerry
Krista Vendy	...	Angela
Jane Allsop	...	Marianne
Jacinta Stapleton	...	Madeline

Storyline

A woman struggles with her son's illness and her husband's infidelity, but, after a chance encounter with an Irish sailor and his son, her life is turned upside down in a love story that defies explanation and breaks all the rules.

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Genres:

Drama

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

19 August 2010 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Encontro com Jack

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cascade Films, Film Victoria, Screen Australia

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

In the opening scene magician Sue-Anne Webster saws her assistant in half with a hand saw. This illusion had to be modified to suit the film from the chainsaw she normally uses as it would have been too intense for a children's birthday party.

User Reviews

Too serious a subject to trivialize.

Films dealing with children struck down with a life-threatening disease can either be uplifting, or, as is the case with most of the films tackling this kind of emotionally-charged subject, become un-abashed tearjerkers. Jack Hagen (Tom Russell) a previously normal, healthy child falls ill and is diagnosed with leukaemia. There is a way to stave off this disease and that is to for the patient to have a bone marrow transplant. The snag is the donor's DNA must 'match' that of the patient, hence the film's title. Jack's parent's hope against hope that the surgeon Professor Nelson (Colin Friels) will find a donor whose DNA matches Jack's. The longer they have to wait, the more dangerous the situation becomes: something the mother refuses to acknowledge. It is then that Jack's mother Marissa (Jacinda Barrett) discovers that her husband, David (Richard Roxburgh) has been unfaithful, and not with just one woman, either. From that moment on, the film shows Jack's mother's frantic attempt to track down her husband's former lovers in the hope that he might have fathered an illegitimate child, and therefore would be the perfect 'match' for her son. To avoid "Matching Jack" becoming overly saccharine, the director Nadia Tass, along with first time writer Lynne Renew, have bent over backwards not to fall into that trap. Instead they have opted to introduce large chunks of levity into the film at the expense of empathy, and in so doing, have turned "Matching Jack" from being a serious, though not necessary boring, film about cancer, into one that is risible by anyone's definition. Two films that tackle the subject of children at risk from life-threatening diseases, without in any way being tedious or un-interesting, are "Life For Ruth" where a father refuses to let his child have a blood transfusion due to his religious beliefs, and "Lorenzo's Oil" – where a father finds a cure for a disease for which no cure is known. The director of "Matching Jack" could have made a film with a strong, social message. Sadly, she didn't.