Because of an unusual aging disorder that has aged him four times faster than a normal human being, a boy enters the fifth grade for the first time with the appearance of a 40 year old man.
The true story of a heroic man, Hunter "Patch" Adams, determined to become a medical doctor because he enjoys helping people. He ventured where no doctor had ventured before, using humour and pathos.
Director:
Tom Shadyac
Stars:
Robin Williams,
Daniel London,
Monica Potter
In 1965, an unorthodox and irreverent DJ named Adrian Cronauer begins to shake up things when he is assigned to the U.S. Armed Services radio station in Vietnam.
Director:
Barry Levinson
Stars:
Robin Williams,
Forest Whitaker,
Tung Thanh Tran
Bennie travels to Buenos Aires to find his long-missing older brother, a once-promising writer who is now a remnant of his former self. Bennie's discovery of his brother's near-finished play might hold the answer to understanding their shared past and renewing their bond.
Director:
Francis Ford Coppola
Stars:
Vincent Gallo,
Alden Ehrenreich,
Maribel Verdú
Chris Nielsen dies in car crash one night, and then goes to Heaven. Later, his widow Annie commits suicide, unable to overcome her loss. Chris descends into Hell to save her.
Director:
Vincent Ward
Stars:
Robin Williams,
Cuba Gooding Jr.,
Annabella Sciorra
A writer with a declining career arrives in a small town as part of his book tour and gets caught up in a murder mystery involving a young girl. That night in a dream, he is approached by a... See full summary »
A mentally unstable photo developer targets a middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.
Director:
Mark Romanek
Stars:
Robin Williams,
Connie Nielsen,
Michael Vartan
The movie is about a boy with a unique aging disorder: one that makes him age 4 times faster than normal. It picks up when Jack (Robin Williams) is 10 years old, but looks 40. He tries to go to public school for the first time, and to become friends with kids his own age. His physical appearance causes him lots of problems, however.Written by
Bob Gohari <bgohari@earthlink.net>
When Lawrence Woodruff visits Jack and his friends at their tree house he spots a genuine Cuban Partagas cigar box. He is disappointed to find it filled with toys, not cigars. Bill Cosby and Francis Ford Coppola are avid cigar smokers in real life. See more »
Goofs
When Jack comes down the stairs in his house in a cardboard box, he comes down onto a hardwood floor at the bottom of the staircase. When his Mom sits down on the stairs, a runner (rug) is shown at the bottom of the staircase. See more »
Quotes
Dr. Lin:
I want to assure you both that there is nothing debilitating about your son's condition. He's totally healthy, normal in appearance, alert and quite happy. However, his cells are developing at what we feel is four times the normal rate. Even though your son was only ten weeks old when he was born, physically he was nine months and ready to leave your womb.
Dr. Benfante:
Nature has given us all an internal clock. It meters out lifespan; controls our growth. Your son's internal clock seems to be ticking faster...
See more »
Crazy Credits
At the end of the music, Jack's classmates can be heard calling for him to come out and play. See more »
JACK is directed by Francis Ford Coppola and stars Robin Williams in the title role of a boy who ages at four times the natural rate. While somewhat of an oddball choice for Coppola, known especially for the Godfather trilogy, this material is rather characteristic for Williams in this period of his career.
Basically, it's a sentimental dramedy that elicits laughter and tugs at the heartstrings. However, this is clearly one of Williams' lesser films. The situation felt contrived and silly, merely an excuse for Williams to engage in puerile antics. What was more astonishing is that this entire film was played straight by everyone. I did laugh some, particularly at a couple scenes involving the physical comedy of Robin Williams playing a 10-year-old in a 40-year-old man's body, but I didn't laugh as much as I would have liked. The moments where they go for poignancy also fell flat a lot of the time, again mostly because of the contrived situation.
However, the film is generally well-acted. Of course Robin Williams does a fine job, but Diane Lane and Bill Cosby in particular turn in good performances as well. Jennifer Lopez and Fran Drescher also show up, but more as eye candy for horny boys than anything. Looking at recent cases involving teachers sleeping with their students, the implications of the scenes involving Jack and those two characters might come off as irresponsible, the subject matter is handled as tastefully as possible (as opposed to something like THAT'S MY BOY, in which Adam Sandler plays a man-child of sorts). I did find one scene between Fran Drescher and Robin Williams as tender, but nothing more.
Given the circumstances surrounding Jack's life, you might think that the film goes for a tearjerker of an ending, but it doesn't. Still, I do feel like the closing speech, which sums up the message of the movie, was tacked on and unnecessary to a degree. It was a sentiment better expressed in Williams' earlier movies, such as DEAD POETS SOCIETY. Overall, while still funny and touching in mostly equal measure, the direction was flat and the story was about as inspiring as a Lifetime movie. For die-hard Robin Williams fans (or of Francis Ford Coppola) only. Everyone else would do well to skip it.
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JACK is directed by Francis Ford Coppola and stars Robin Williams in the title role of a boy who ages at four times the natural rate. While somewhat of an oddball choice for Coppola, known especially for the Godfather trilogy, this material is rather characteristic for Williams in this period of his career.
Basically, it's a sentimental dramedy that elicits laughter and tugs at the heartstrings. However, this is clearly one of Williams' lesser films. The situation felt contrived and silly, merely an excuse for Williams to engage in puerile antics. What was more astonishing is that this entire film was played straight by everyone. I did laugh some, particularly at a couple scenes involving the physical comedy of Robin Williams playing a 10-year-old in a 40-year-old man's body, but I didn't laugh as much as I would have liked. The moments where they go for poignancy also fell flat a lot of the time, again mostly because of the contrived situation.
However, the film is generally well-acted. Of course Robin Williams does a fine job, but Diane Lane and Bill Cosby in particular turn in good performances as well. Jennifer Lopez and Fran Drescher also show up, but more as eye candy for horny boys than anything. Looking at recent cases involving teachers sleeping with their students, the implications of the scenes involving Jack and those two characters might come off as irresponsible, the subject matter is handled as tastefully as possible (as opposed to something like THAT'S MY BOY, in which Adam Sandler plays a man-child of sorts). I did find one scene between Fran Drescher and Robin Williams as tender, but nothing more.
Given the circumstances surrounding Jack's life, you might think that the film goes for a tearjerker of an ending, but it doesn't. Still, I do feel like the closing speech, which sums up the message of the movie, was tacked on and unnecessary to a degree. It was a sentiment better expressed in Williams' earlier movies, such as DEAD POETS SOCIETY. Overall, while still funny and touching in mostly equal measure, the direction was flat and the story was about as inspiring as a Lifetime movie. For die-hard Robin Williams fans (or of Francis Ford Coppola) only. Everyone else would do well to skip it.