Conference bookie::movies

    
    >it's called "Jack" and stars Robin Williams as a 10 year old with the
    >body of a 30 year old.
    
    
    	Hmmm, this sounds like every role Robin has ever done.  8^)
    

    It also sounds a lot like "Big."
    
    -Stephen

    
    
    Judge Reinhold and John Savage did a movie like this where they traded
    places via some magic.
    
    Chris
    :)

    Vice-Versa
    

Big vs. Vice-Versa ... One of the few cases where "Big" is definitely better !

Simes  %^)

    
    	"Freaky Friday"
    	"18 Again"
    	"Like Father Like Son"
    	"Vice Versa"
    	"Big"
    

>     	"Freaky Friday"
>     	"18 Again"
>     	"Like Father Like Son"
>     	"Vice Versa"
>     	"Big"

	"Big" does not fit in with the rest of these movies.  All the
	others are movies where two different characters change bodies
	(or minds depending on your perspective).

	"Big" on the other hand is a movie where one (1) character
	does not change bodies with anyone else, the character's
	own body changes.

	From the description in .0 it sounds like this movie would
	fall into the latter catagory of film(s), not the former

    
    	Yes, and "Freaky Friday" should be in a separate category be-
    	cause it's 2 females changing places instead of 2 males.  8^)
    
	In all cases, at least 1 character is affected by something
    	weird that transfers his/her mind from an adult's body to a
    	child's body ... or vice versa [no pun intended].
    

    In this case, "JACK" is about a child who is born with a rare condition
    whereby his body develops at an abnormal rate.  So the difference here
    is that it is not a change via magic or a weird, supernatural
    occurence, but rather a medical condition.
    
    Steve

> In this case, "JACK" is about a child who is born with a rare condition
> whereby his body develops at an abnormal rate.  So the difference here
> is that it is not a change via magic or a weird, supernatural
> occurence, but rather a medical condition.

	Ah, that sounds at least good to know that Robin Williams isn't
	going to be doing a re-make of "Big" as it sounded very similiar
	(though it wouldn't of been the first film he's been in that
	ripped off earlier films, like Tootsie => Mrs. Doubtfire).

	This film does not sound like it will be a comedy then, but
	a possibly very serious film.  Quite a departure for Williams!

    I'm sure there will be some "serious" moments but it is a comedy.
    At least that's what the trailers looked like to me!  

    fyi to .10! Robin Williams has done some serious roles...just to name 3
    of them::
    
          1.Good Morning Vietnam
          2.Awakenings(sp?)
          3.Dead Poets Society    

    The biggest difference in this film and all the others noted, is that
    Jack does not try to hide his true self.  In all the others, the body
    exchange is kept secret, the man-child/woman-child is forced to pretend
    to be older/younger than their chronological age.  Jack doesn't.  Here,
    the comedy will be derived as much from how everyone else treats Jack
    as how Jack treats himself.  That is a much more complex set of
    circumstances and should make for a much more poignant film.  Don't
    forget, if Jack is aging at four times the normal rate, by the time he
    would graduate high school, he'd be 72 physically.  Any kid he
    befriends at ten will have to deal with that.
    
    I, for one, look forward to seeing "Jack" as soon as it is released.
                                                 

    
    
    Another good serious role for Williams was "The World According to
    Garp"
    
    Chris
    :)

    To continue the list.... he was very good in "The Fisher King".  Not
    exactly a "funny" role.

To me, the big surprise is seeing that Francis Ford Coppola is directing this.
This doesn't look at all like the kind of movie he usually does -- though
looking at his filmography, I may be unfairly typecasting him.

It seems appropriate that one of his earlier titles is "You're a Big Boy Now".

    My daughter (age 11.5) and I saw a sneak preview of "Jack" this weekend
    (double feature with "Phenomenon").  To our surprise, we each liked
    "Jack" best.
    
    I'd say it's 80% comedy; the rest is not schmaltz but a consideration of
    prejudice, education, the quality of life, etc.  There's a nice little 
    metaphor, not heavy-handed IMO, which pops up a few times.
    
    I'm a big fan of Robin Williams, so I wasn't out for blood inspecting
    his depiction of a 10-year-old; maybe twice I thought a nuance of
    delivery was a bit too adult.  It wasn't jarring enough for me to
    remember now in which scenes they occurred.
    
    The medical condition was not named, but the attending doctors told the
    parents it was NOT progeria; Jack's cells were simply multiplying and
    aging at a rate 4x normal.  I could buy this as a mythical condition,
    but I had trouble with the premise that his parents could keep him
    effectively hidden from the community for TEN YEARS....
    
    Bill Cosby did a great job (well, not a stretch really, considering his
    education) as Jack's tutor and friend.  The parents (Diane Lane
    and...?) had relatively small, plain-vanilla roles--well no, I take
    that back, the Mom had a funny-but-understandable skewed perspective
    on, and interaction with, Jack.  (You never know what she will have
    been doing when she answers the doorbell, for instance.)
    
    A standard caveat for and from me: DON'T WATCH THE TRAILER!!  In our
    sneak preview, "Jack" was shown first; among the trailers between the
    movies was the one for "Jack" and I was disgusted at how many of the
    great scenes were represented.  Par for the course, I suppose.
    
    It's rated PG13 for references to Penthouse magazine and discussions in
    the treehouse including words like "boner" :-) plus the 10-year-olds'
    fascination with gaseous bodily emissions.  (I'm not a big fan of that
    kind of humor, but I have to admit this was funny stuff!).
    
    Cast trivia: one of the two 8-year-old girls was a minor character on
    "Full House" (Michelle's best friend); I've always liked her.  The
    character's name is Jane (or Jade?).  Fran Drescher does an over-the-
    top (what else?) sleazy mom-with-a-heart-of-gold.
    
    The trailer we were treated to (NOT) said "Jack" is "Coming August 2",
    but I think the TV trailer said August 9.  I'm looking forward to
    reading more reaction to "Jack" here....
    
    Leslie 

    Forgot to say, don't miss the opening scene--GREAT Halloween costumes.
    Jack's mom is the Wicked Witch of the East; another woman is a martini.
    
    A nitty comment (not a spoiler): since this is supposed to be present-day,
    I'm confused by the robotic measurement devices used on newborn Jack. 
    They made for interesting shots playing with the camera focus, but even 
    if this technology is in use today (and it looked pretty sloppy), one 
    would think it'd be used in quarantine, which wasn't Jack's situation.
    
    Leslie  

>The parents (Diane Lane and...?)
Brian Kerwin.

>Cast trivia: one of the two 8-year-old girls was a minor character on
>"Full House" (Michelle's best friend); I've always liked her.  The
>character's name is Jane (or Jade?).
Dani Faith.  I had to go to the "official" site for this info.

The more interesting cast trivia to me: the bartender is Don Novello, in a
rare appearance *not* as Fr. Guido Sarducci.

    
    	Don was also the limo driver in "Head Office".
    

    To sum this one up..."Cute".
    
    	I found it dragged on at times and nothing special in between.  In
    it's defense, it was very funny at times and made ya realize the simple
    theory of "live life to it's fullest".
    
    	2.5 outta 5
    
    	  Jay
    
    Spoiler:
    
    The treehouse parts were great, especially seeing Bill Cosby's getting
    in on the action.