This movie is to Francis Ford Coppola's directing resume what Always was to Steven Spielberg's in the sense you can't believe this movie was directed by a cinematic genius, as it has the feel of a made-for- TV movie. To some extent Coppola should be blamed. Aside from directing some of the all-time greats "Godfather 1&2" and "Apocalypse Now", he himself is a talented writer with "Patton" and "The Godfather" screenplays. So he should have known this script wasn't worthy of his enormous talent, and should have made suggestions on how to improve it. The man is a genius, surely that's the least he could have done. You also can't fault him to some extent, however as he has said he only made this film to work with Robin Williams. I can see his desire for that. Williams was a genius in front of the camera just the same as Coppola is behind it. But why didn't he direct "The Birdcage" which came out around the same time and had a much better use of Robin Williams' talent? Coppola can direct comedy successfully "Peggy Sue Got Married" is a wonderful film. He knows what is funny and what works and what doesn't. It's rumored Coppola told Williams he wanted to work with him and when Williams got the screenplay for Jack he would only do it if Coppola agreed to direct it. But was Coppola really that desperate to work with Williams as to direct him in a so-so movie? Surely he could have suggested he and Williams team up for something far more worthy of their amazing talents. Jack has some sweetness that is appealing and not to be ignored, and the acting is decent overall. Coppola at least directs most of his actors well except for the obnoxious Fran Drescher in a supporting role. What in the world is Fran Drescher doing in a Francis Ford Coppola movie? Many Oscar winning actresses would have been proud to work with the genius behind The Godfather and Apocalypse Now even for a small supporting role and he gets one of (if not) the most obnoxious comedienne's of her era for the part. Why not go for Marisa Tomei, or Julia Roberts, or even the director's sister Talia Shire for the same part? He might as well have directed Roseanne Barr in the same role. Coppola is too talented to direct someone as bad at acting as Drescher. The rest of the cast including Coppola favorite Diane Lane, Brian Kerwin, Jennifer Lopez and Bill Cosby all do fine in their roles and give good performances, but they are not given anything special or memorable or even funny from a wasted script. Coppola doesn't even know how to direct Williams to do anything special. Williams plays a ten year old, but he doesn't act like one, he essentially just plays himself. If this movie is about him as a ten year old he should at least act like one and Coppola should have been able to direct him as such. Tom Hanks did the same thing wonderfully almost a decade earlier in Big where he was directed by Penny Marshall also a talented director but not even on the same level of talent as Coppola. Also Coppola makes the mistake at times of letting his movie turn into bad outtakes from a Farrely Brothers movie. I mean farting, eating gross-out stuff, and ten year old boys looking at porn magazines. The Farrely's can get away with that because that is their signature trademark, the same just can't be said about one of the cinema's all time great director's. Jack is not without it's charm, though it really is sad that the great Francis Ford Coppola wouldn't wait to direct Robin Williams in a much better movie. The result is a movie that tries and occasionally succeeds, but should have been a masterpiece with the star and director attached. Hopefully all involved enjoyed working with Coppola enough to ignore the fact that this is a mediocre, mostly forgettable film, and unless I see a worse early Coppola directing effort, the worse film of the great director's work. Godfather III is on par with it's far superior predecessors as far as Coppola's work goes compared to Jack.

Jack (1996): Dir: Frances Ford Coppola / Cast: Robin Williams, Diane Lane, Brian Kerwin, Jennifer Lopez, Bill Cosby: Intriguing concept aimed at the wrong audience. Jack is a kid inside a man's body after an age process four times the average person his age. He is forty years old in a ten year span. He faces much anguish when he learns that his ageing will shorten his life span. He informs his tutor that he wishes to attend school and make an attempt at normality. Other children are overwhelmed with his size but he comes to realize his fate. Billed as a comedy yet it is too depressing. It is detailed in presenting Jack's everyday struggles for acceptance and opportunities. Interesting choice for director Frances Ford Coppola who made an earlier film with similar themes called Peggy Sue Got Married. Great performance by Robin Williams as Jack who will eventually accept his fate and live for the moment. Diane Lane plays his mother who tries to surround him with love, while Brian Kerwin plays his father. These roles are more standard as is Jennifer Lopez as Jack's teacher that he crushes on but it works due too how Lopez handles being asked to the dance by Jack. Bill Cosby plays a tutor who sympathizes with Jack's desire to have a normal childhood despite his physical drawbacks. Strong message regards how short life is and that we should never take it for granted. Score: 7 ½ / 10

I used to love this movie as a child, i can remember renting it weekly at my local video shop. the fart scene in the cubby house always had me in stitches. now as a 22 year old, having sadly forgotten about this underrated gem, until i remembered it a few weeks ago and hunted for it on DVD. when hunting for some old videos i found a copy that must have somehow snuck into my video collection and i dusted off the old vcr player sat back and watched it. i laughed, i cried, i remembered my childhood. i think what Francis Ford Copella has done is an amazing achievement, it is truly hard for a movie to achieve what Jack does, it's fun for children, and adults who are young at heart.but it also reached me on another level, it reached me on a level of meaning and emotion, it taught me life is short, in a way no other movie has reached me.

A curiosity coming from Francis Ford Coppola (who also co-produced for Zoetrope) has pregnant Diane Lane going into labor after only two months, delivering a healthy-seeming baby boy (when she pleads to her husband in the delivery room, "It's too soon!", it's rather an understatement). Doctors have never seen another child like this, yet quickly determine the boy has an internal clock which is ahead of itself by four times the average rate, meaning that when Jack is ten-years old he'll look like a man of forty. This peculiar movie gimmick aside, what we really have here is Robin Williams back in grade school. Although this may sound perfectly inexcusable, not to mention somewhat derivative, it isn't a silly movie (at least, not at its core) and has good acting. Williams manages to hold back a bit from his usual barrage of vocal effects and facial expressions, and a few of his scenes are peddled quite softly (as they were in "Awakenings"). Also quite fine are Bill Cosby as Jack's initial tutor and Jennifer Lopez as his schoolteacher. The little boys are way over-the-top, and some of their gross-out talk is just stupid (they hole up in a tree house, equipped with TV, looking at nudie magazines--probably an attempt to mirror grown-ups but it plays sour). Oddly, Coppola can't stop himself from ultimately tugging at the old heartstrings, and not just once but for an entire sequence and an epilogue! I could have done without the "seven years later" bit, but for the most part this is a warm family comedy with a bigger heart than it knows what to do with. ** from ****