He's a healthy ten year old who's growing four times faster than normal. Now he's about to take off on the biggest adventure of his life... 5th grade.
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.
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Character
Contemporary, classical in form, spare and raw.
- contemporarynostalgic
- classical in formformally daring
- sparerichly built
- rawmeticulous
- effortlessdemanding
Who loves it, who doesn't
19 profiled raters. Loved most by The Thrill Chasers; disliked most by The Omnivores.
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“Is Robin Williams the best thing in Jack?”
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“Is it really for children?”
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“Is it funnier than it is smart?”
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Reviews on TMDB
Written by TMDB members; each links to the original. Not part of Tastebuds's numbers.
- Wuchakon TMDB · Mar 20215/10
_**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: Lope
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Cast
- Robin WilliamsJack Powell
- Diane LaneKaren Powell
- Brian KerwinBrian Powell
- Jennifer LopezMiss Marquez
- Bill CosbyLawrence Woodruff
- Fran DrescherDolores Durante
- Adam ZolotinLouis Durante
- Irwin CoreyPoppy
- Jurnee Smollett-BellPhoebe
- Ashlee LaurenAllison
Crew
- Francis Ford CoppolaDirector
- James DeMonacoScreenplay
- Gary NadeauScreenplay
- John TollDirector of Photography
- Michael KamenOriginal Music Composer
- Barry MalkinEditor
- Francis Ford CoppolaProducer
- Fred FuchsProducer
- Ricardo MestresProducer
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