Jack

The Good: This movie is an excellent comedy/drama. Robin Williams does a heart warming performance as Jack, a boy who grows 4 times as fast as a regular boy. There were many funny parts, and many sad parts with a good mix of both. The acting is very good; Robin Williams did a great job of playing a 10 year-old boy.

The Bad: There were a few missing ends to this movie. Some things didn't fit together right. One thing was when he went to jail for getting in a fight at the bar. If he's only 10 years old, aren't the police going to figure it out?!

Overall: Overall, this is a touching movie that I encourage everyone to see. It may not be an Oscar nominee, but all in all it is a good show.

*** 1/2 out of *****

Okay it's not exactly the biggest stretch of casting to have Robin Williams playing a ten year old in the body of an adult. However, Jack is a pretty decent and funny movie. Jack Powell is born and he ages at four times the normal rate. For the first ten years of his life he is tutored at home and sheltered by his parents. Bill Cosby plays his tutor Mr. Woodruff. Diane Lane and Brian Kerwin play his parents who are reluctant to send Jack to public school because they fear the other children's reactions to him. When he does go to school, his teacher, played by Jennifer Lopez, welcomes him with open arms while, predictably the kids are both awed and afraid, and teasing soon follows. Jack gains acceptance when the boys realize that he is a natural for basketball, and he soon is running with a whole group of new friends.

The rest of the movie is basically about Jack and how his body is just naturally slowing down, leading to his withdrawal from school, his eventual return, and the epilogue at his high school graduation.

Jack was a pretty charming film and I liked the way that Robin Williams acted in his scenes with Diane Lane as the 10 year old with a strong bond with his mother, and her feelings of longing when he shows that he is pulling away when he gains friends his own physical age.

It seems like when "Jack" came out, many critics found it absurd if not insulting. I admit that the idea of someone aging at four times the normal rate is a little outlandish, but I still wish to assert that the movie is worth seeing. True, Robin Williams is more subdued than usual, but some of his antics are pretty funny, as he tries to find his place in a world younger than he looks. I really liked the part about "Zack problem".

Seeing Jennifer Lopez here, it's weird to think that she once starred in watchable movies. Also starring are Diane Lane, Brian Kerwin, Bill Cosby and Fran Drescher. Francis Ford Coppola pulled off another interesting one here.

Many reviewers have compared this work to Tom Hanks's Big, wherein a young boy wishes he were "big," and the wish is granted. However, this work is the anti-thesis of that work, as an adult portrays a young child, physically, which thrusts Jack into the same venue as Martin Short's "Clifford," which was done some two years prior to this work.

That not withstanding, Clifford was a holy terror, while Jack is a mother's dream. While both works require a total suspension of belief in order to enjoy them, Jack is endearing, sweet, sentimental, and entertaining. There is nothing endearing, sweet, or sentimental about Clifford.

Jack is born with a genetic disorder which causes him to age 4 years for every 10, thereby causing him to appear as a 40 year old man at the age of 10.

Many have bludgeoned Coppola's involvement in such a scheme, citing his prior "masterpiece" works while bemoaning this one. The fans seem to forget that artistic people who do not spread their wings, and plant their feet on strange ground, never grow as individuals and artists.

Some found this work "insulting" due to the premise. It is called unintelligent. But not all films are based on intellect, and not all movie-goers care to have to think in order to enjoy a movie. And there is the added benefit of the heartwarming sentiment carried by this work.

It did well in the box office, nearly doubling its budget, worldwide, and is generally under-rated here at IMDb (if only mildly so), which says that word of mouth (that this film wasn't as bad as the critics said) carried this film further than the negative reviews would have liked.

It rates a 6.2/10 from...

the Fiend :.

An all-star cast are recruited together to tell the tale of a 10-year old boy whose body grows 4 times that of a normal kid his age.

Robin Williams ('Hook') is great as the title role, while Fran Drescher ('The Nanny') and Jennifer Lopez ('Money Train') are also fantastic. Bill Cosby is also here, as good as ever.

The storyline and scripting is good (nothing great) and the acting is first-class... even the kids have some talent!

A feel-good family film that has some very funny moments and some very sad moments, but all-in-all a really good film. 7/10.