Jack

Jack is a low key and sensitive film dealing with sexuality. In this case the sexuality of Jack's father who comes out of the closet, leaves his wife and son but still wants to maintain a relationship with him.

Ron Silver plays Paul the gay father. He is the heart of the film and his earnest longing for his son to understand his predicament and desire to have a normal relationship with Jack is the key performance in this movie.

Stockard Channing is the mother who at first is embittered. She has lost her husband to another man and has to raise Jack on his own until she comes round to have Paul involved again in the family life.

A young Anton Yelchin plays Jack who now having to go through puberty also has the embarrassment of having a gay dad once the kids at school find out. I kept thinking Yelchin gulped some helium every time he spoke his lines.

Jack is angry at his dad at first but the film opens out as he becomes friendly with a school girl whose dad also came out as gay while his best friend has parents who are in a violent relationship.

I guess the subtext of the film is that parents can screw you up whether straight or gay. I just felt the film was a little too neat and small scale for my liking even though it was handled sensitively.

'Jack' is a pleasant surprise as not many people (me included) had heard of it before. It is a perceptive film about a teenager coming to terms with different aspects of life. In particular the realization that his father is gay. The film has great performances all round; especially Ron Silver as the father. 'Jack' is an entertaining film with alot of heart.

Even gay dads can be good dads. but they can still make growing up hard. In the 21st century, family and personal relations are changing in a way that hasn't been dealt with on the larger scale they are in the 2000's.

As if being a teenager wasn't hard enough! Not only people have to deal with new social changes, but society's reaction. And you thought you had it hard growing up!

The narration does bring back memories of 'the wonder years.'

And you get to see Rizzo as a mommy. But having your dad's gay partner named 'BOB' seems a little passive aggressive.

This film shown on cable, recently, was a real find. Not having heard about it, but based on the talented cast assembled here, I decided to watch it, and I must confess that it has much more power than the bland fare that is being shown in mainstream movies. The film is directed with integrity by Lee Rose.

A divorce, is a tragedy, specially for the children that are left behind. Jack, is a teen ager when his parents decide to split up, amicably. Paul, Jack's father takes him out to eat at fancy restaurants during his weekly visits, as if to compensate for what has been lost. Jack couldn't care less. Secretly, he would like to see the parents together.

The cruel fact here is that Paul is gay. Jack is nasty, at first, but he comes around because of Wendy, another product of divorce, whose gay father happens to be a good friend of Paul. Wendy is light years ahead of Jack in dealing with a situation she can't control. It is through their friendship that Jack gets to accept his father.

Ron Silver plays Paul, the gay father with conviction. This actor plays the troubled father wanting understanding from the son he has left. Stockard Channing is Anne, the mother, who has to deal with the problems the divorce and the homosexuality has caused in Jack. Finally, Jack, as portrayed by Anton Yelchin, was a good choice for the part.

Watch the film, you won't regret it.

Every commentator already said what I have to say. Wonderful movie, great performances, great script, etc. I saw this movie at Hallmark yesterday (Sunday Jan.17, 2005). Didn't catch it from the start but today I entered IMDb.com to search for "Silver and Channing working together" and found the title. The piece is great, and it is a pleasant surprise to watch a recent (2004) movie at a non-premium channel (Hallmark) as per my cable provider here in Paraguay. It is definitively a movie to discuss about with our kids (I am a father of 3, two boys: 26 and 21 and a 15-year old girl), especially here down in the middle of South America in our land-locked country where such situations do appear, though probably not as frequently as in USA, I guess (i.e., parents with children later on becoming functionally gay). I found Jack's crush on the beaten wife especially moving and as real as it probably happened to many a youngster with a beautiful and lovely teacher, aunt, classmate's mother, whatever...