जम्पिन जैक फ़्लैश

This is a fast-paced and to-the-point crime comedy starring Whoopi Goldberg as banker Terry Doolittle who communicates with clients electronically on her computer throughout the world. One day, she receives a coded message from an unknown man who is pleading for help, as he is stuck in limbo in an unknown country. The suspense builds as an espionage case is revealed to be involved and culprits are after Terry.

Goldberg delivers her unique brand of humor (especially liked the scene where her cocktail dress got caught in the shredder) and her fast-talking and no-nonsense attitude. Stephen Collins plays Terry's newly-hired co-worker Marty Phillips, who seems to be caught in places where Terry is in trouble. Carol Kane plays Terry's sassy and high-pitched voice co-worker Cynthia, and Annie Potts plays the mysterious Liz Carlson, who seems to be the only person Terry can trust in the espionage case.

It's a somewhat classic-style spy genre film, which I thought could have used a bit more action and suspense. However, the plot was well-paced and the acting was pretty good, giving us a pretty entertaining feature.

Grade B

28 July 2009. At times Whoopi Godberg goes too far and becomes weird and at other times brings her own unique, frolicking fresh comedy that outshines most traditional comic gaps. Sometimes the plot is convoluted from logical belief and at other times grips with a sizzling suspenseful twist. This movie is a mixed bag, but has a nice espionage storyline that holds up well especially considering this is an early mix of both serious spy drama with comic humor, a usually impossibly difficult blend to get right. There are some old new young faces here. The main plot point of rarely actually seeing one of the main characters is intriguing and unique to this movie, one of its claim of fame. Repeated viewing isn't recommended very often, as part of the compelling nature of this movie is its mystery action theme which gets somewhat old and helps to keep the movie going along with the usually balance drama-comic high points.

A bank's clerk is humorously involved in international espionage when her computer terminal picks up words sent by electronic mail from a Brit spy trapped into Iron Curtain. The events break her monotony life and boring employment.

The film packs comedy, suspense, tongue in check and lots of amusement. There are still some hilarious pieces, notably the comic tryings to decipher the lyrics to the film title song by famous Rolling Stones, when her dress get caught in a shredder, Whoopi singing at the British Embassy by impersonating Diane Ross and when she's dragged by a tow truck, among others. The picture is a Woopi Goldberg recital, she plays a wacky, foul-mouthed, and wisecracking spinster with no check. This is her first big success in comedy genre, after his known drama 'Purple color' by Steven Spielberg. Abundant secondaries and cameos by noted actors, such as Jim Belushi, Annie Potts, John Wood, Jeroan Krabbe, Roscoe Lee Browne, Sara Bostford, John Lovitz, Phil Hartman, among them. Agreeable musical score, though with abuse synthesizer by Thomas Newman . The motion picture is middling directed by Penny Marshall, in his film debut, but she was unable to control the star's excesses. Later Marshall achieved numerous hits as producer, actress and director, such as 'Renaissance man, Preacher's wife, Awakenings, A league of their own and Big'.

There aren't not that many female directors around and Penny Marshall is one of the few who scored some hits with her movies in the eighties ("She's having a baby", "The hard way") and of course "Jumpin' Jack Flash", one of those delicious comedies from the eighties that aren't dated, and that aren't silly. Whoopi Goldberg who was a bit the hot "strange" spot from Hollywood since her appearance in "The color purple" did some nice comedies from which this one must be one of the finest. She plays the role of Teresa aka Terry, a weirdo who is obsessed by movies and books, and during daytime she spend eight hours in a bank behind a computer (a must for pcfreaks to see how dated they are!!!). Her hilarious boss Mr James Page (Peter Michael Goetz) forbids her to chat, she obeys till Jumpin Jack Flash knocks. She can't resist the power not to respond and soon she discovers that Jumpin Jack Flash is a CIA-agent who is somewhere in East Europe (it was still a cold war) and he begs him to help. Sooner as Teresa thinks she has become a target from the KGB as well and as you can guess she ends up in dangerous hilarious situations (or are you kidnapped any day in a phone booth?). Absolutely do not to try to understand the plot, there isn't one and if there should be some it has no meaning...it's just a CIA-agent who runs for the KGB, that's all but that's not the reason why you should watch this, it's just to see a fine comedy that stands for 90 minutes of entertainment.

"Jumpin' Jack Flash" is a very funny comedy-thriller starring comedienne and current "Hollywood Squares" star Whoopi Goldberg in the movie she made after her outstanding performance in "The Color Purple". This was her first big comedy and she's terrific in it. Goldberg stars as Terry Doolittle, a computer operator at a New York bank. At the end of a long day of work, she gets an awkward message from a British spy who's in trouble. As a result she gets plunged into a world of international intrigue and danger. Sure the premise of "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is silly. But it's an entertaining movie, thanks to Goldberg's performance. She's the whole show here. One of the best moments in the film is the one when the spy asks her to "sing with me and find the key", and she listens to the lyrics of the Mick Jagger song "Jumpin' Jack Flash" so she can find the word or words to crack the spy's code. This scene is a classic. Just get a load of the way Goldberg acts in this scene. It's hilarious. This scene proves that Goldberg is a great comic actress. There's also the scene where, after almost getting killed, Goldberg confronts a police detective played by "Pretty Woman" and "Runaway Bride" director Garry Marshall (who oddly enough is the brother of the director of this film, former "Laverne & Shirley" star Penny Marshall making her directorial debut here). Get a load of the foul language displayed by Goldberg in this scene. I was laughing hysterically out loud. There are also action scenes that really aren't necessary, but they're exciting and thrilling. And there are good supporting performances by Stephen Collins, Carol Kane, John Wood, Annie Potts, Roscoe Lee Browne, Jim Belushi, Jon Lovitz, and the late Phil Hartman. But the real star here is Whoopi. She alone makes "Jumpin' Jack Flash" worth seeing. And it's far better that Whoopi's next two movies after this: "Burglar" and "Fatal Beauty".

*** (out of four)