Jack

1996

PG-13

1h 53m

IMDb RATING

6.3/10

1.3K

YOUR RATING

Rate

POPULARITY

Play trailer

2 Videos

33 Images

Comedy

Family

Drama

Born with a rare condition that makes him age four times faster than normal, ten-year-old Jack Powell looks like a forty-year-old man. After years of homeschooling, he enters public school for the first time, eager to make friends and live like any other kid—only to discover that growing up too fast means learning some of life’s hardest lessons early.

Directors

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers

James DeMonaco(screenplay by)

Gary Nadeau(screenplay by)

Stars

Robin Williams

Diane Lane

Brian Kerwin

See production, box office & company info

Videos2

Trailer
Watch Theatrical Trailer (35mm Flat Open Matte, 1.18:1)
Trailer
Watch Theatrical Trailer

Photos33

Top cast

Jack Powell

Karen Powell

Brian Powell

Miss Marquez

Lawrence Woodruff

Dolores Durante

Louis Durante

Poppy

Phoebe

Allison

George

Paulie

Edward

John-John

Bartender

Dr. Benfante

Dr. Lin

Lucy

Directors

Francis Ford Coppola

Writers

James DeMonaco(screenplay by)

Gary Nadeau(screenplay by)

All cast & crew

Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

User reviews1

Review

Featured review

5/10

_**Robin Williams as a 10 year-old; great cast, but needed a rewrite**_ The Powells in Oakland have a premature baby, whom they name Jack (Robin Williams). The problem is that Jack grows at four times the normal rate and so when he finally is allowed to enter 5th grade at the age of 10 he looks like a 40 year-old man. Diane Lane plays his mother, Bill Cosby his tutor, Jennifer Lopez his teacher and Fran Drescher a single mother who’s attracted to him. “Jack” (1996) takes the basic topic of “Big” (1988) and mixes it with the awkwardness of “Milk Money” (1994). It tries to be a serious drama, a slapstick comedy and a profound tragedy, which is tonally bewildering. Nevertheless, it would’ve been more successful if they worked out the kinks in the slapstick scenes, especially the ones with the kids, like the treehouse sequences. There’s nothing wrong with the cast or the filmmaking except that the script needed improved to flesh out the potential. As it is, I had a hard time buying that Robin Williams was a 10 year-old boy and the comedic scenes with the kids didn’t work for me, although they’re passably amusing. Thankfully, there are several things that make the movie worthwhile: Lopez, Drescher and Lane are thoroughly attractive and I especially enjoyed the scenes with Lopez and Drescher, like the bar sequence; Cosby is his likable self (before his fall from grace); and the second half is better than the unsure first half. Director Francis Ford Coppola proved that he could effectively do this kind of whimsical fare with “Peggy Sue Got Married” (1986), but here he needed a better script. Still, some people love this movie (while critics like Siskel & Ebert tore it to pieces), so I suppose it’s a matter of taste. The movie runs 1 hour, 53 minutes, and was shot in areas just north of Oakland/San Francisco (Vallejo, Mill Valley & Ross). GRADE: C+

Wuchak24 Mar, 2021