Movies
Jack the Bear
Brusquely, bluntly, brutally "sensitive" film about a boy awakening to the existence of Real Monsters. A road-repair crew has put up "Danger" signs in front of the house; a pack of snarling dogs patrols the back; but mainly there's the gimp-legged neighbor nicknamed "the Zombie," who turns out to be a racist and a kidnapper. For contrast, the boy's loving but heavy-drinking father (Danny DeVito: is he getting shorter?) is merely the "Monster of Ceremonies" on a late-night TV horror-film series. This is "resonance" to rattle your teeth. Not much visual sense, however; and not much sense of the period -- 1972 -- outside of DeVito's sideburns, a progressive schoolteacher who wants the kids to address him by first name, and an album's worth of goldie-oldies in the background. With Robert J. Steinmiller, Gary Sinise, Reese Witherspoon; directed by Marshall Herskovitz. 1993.
Reader Rating:
MPAA Rating: PG-13
