Jack

'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.

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.

Rarely does a movie so captivate me with its honesty. This movie was extremely well done, and the characters are truthful, to a painful degree. The relationship between each one of them is a genuine experience for the viewer. I lost myself in the complexities that existed between the family, and the dynamic between each member of this crumbling family unit. I believe that we will see great things from Anton Yelchin in the future. His deadpan delivery of the poetically tragic events of puberty make for a beautiful personification of his character. My heart hurt for him, and I found myself loving his character and hating the end of the movie. This is a movie that should have gotten more publicity, for I hadn't even heard of it when I luckily found it on cable...

Long ago one said: "Give me a god kid and you will see how great parent am I". But reality is somewhat different. This is a great story about growing; finding identity, but ... Being a parent for a while I would say that Jack's way of thinking is something that I saw with my daughter, rather than son. The way he understands social relations is more feminine. Someone could expect that Jack is more vulnerable than he really is. His self-confidence is unexpectedly high. Nevertheless, movie keeps attention till the end, and moral of the story is intact. Film has good rhythm, sometimes catchy photography with emphasis on ordinary urban life situations. Really good family movie that any parent could discuss with their youngster!

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.