Jack

I too had not heard of this film and came across it by accident. It is well written and acted with a good solid cast. The portrayals of all the characters are strong and very well done. The film deals with a complex subject with sensitivity and understanding. The film shows a seldom seen portrayal of relationships and life itself. The background narration by the young man provides real insight into the turmoil he works through. I would recommend this film to all teenage boys in particular as it provides a perspective, which they are not likely to find in school. It seems to me that many teenage boys are frightened by gay people and often use this fear to strike out against what they do not understand, as witnessed by the writing on his locker. The film is certainly more than worth the time to watch 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...

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.

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...

This was an honest and moving film. The actors all did fine jobs, adults and children alike. Some movies seem to try to convince you of something while you're watching, this one didn't. It was simply a good story that makes you think. You're watching this family's life unfold in front of you (or fall apart in front of you depending on how you want to look at it). There are sort of two stories going on at once and both are interesting. The second story involves domestic violence and seeing the kids and their different reactions was interesting. This movie basically revolves around parents that both adore their son Jack yet he's presented with a lot to deal with. The second family in the story have their own more common problems and while the mom in that family (Wendy Crewson) seems like a total sweetheart and a doting, loving mom and friend, she is also dealing with her own huge problems at home. All of the trials these people endure they handle well for the most part. It is an interesting laid back movie. The kid that played Jack was cool in this movie and Stockard Channing was awesome (as usual) as was Wendy Crewson (despite her smaller role).