Jack the Bear

Jack the Bear
Jack the Bear
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Marshall Herskovitz
Screenplay by	Steven Zaillian
Based on	Jack the Bear; by Dan McCall
Produced by	Bruce Gilbert; Peter Burrell
Starring	Danny DeVito;
Cinematography	Fred Murphy
Edited by	Steven Rosenblum
Music by	James Horner
Production; companies	American Filmworks; Lucky Dog Productions Inc.
Distributed by	20th Century Fox
Release date	April 2, 1993;
Running time	99 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Box office	$5.1 million

Jack the Bear is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Marshall Herskovitz, written by Steven Zaillian based on the novel of the same name by Dan McCall, and starring Danny DeVito. The film is about John Leary (DeVito), a single father raising his two sons (Robert J. Steinmiller Jr. and Miko Hughes) in the 1970s San Francisco Bay Area after the death of his wife (Andrea Marcovicci).

Plot

Jack Leary and his younger brother Dylan start over in Oakland, California, in 1972 following the death of their mother Elizabeth, who was killed in a car collision. The boys live with their father John, who entertains late-night horror film audiences as Midnight Shriek host-commentator "Al Gory". Even though he is a loving parent, John has a drinking problem that disrupts the smooth running of the household. Some parental duties fall to Jack, who takes Dylan to his first day of preschool.

One of the Learys' neighbors is a young man, Norman Strick, who walks with a cane due to a car accident as a teen. Norman is an anti-social neo-Nazi who feels the neighborhood is going downhill.

Jack has a love affair with his classmate Karen Morris. Jack's friend and next-door neighbor, Dexter, comes from a broken home. Dexter resides with his grandparents; he begins suffering a downward spiral after his grandmother dies while becoming acquainted with Norman. On Halloween, having given Dexter a Nazi costume, Norman approaches John to ask for a donation for a racially prejudiced candidate. During an airing of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a drunken John interrupts the movie and mimics the racially charged beliefs of Norman while naming the candidate.

The next day, Jack is woken when Norman's golden retriever Cheyenne dies on their front lawn from poisoning. John apologizes for his actions on television while giving his condolences despite Norman refusing to shake his hand. Backlash from John's previous actions on his show jeopardizes his job and endangers Jack's relationship with Karen. Taking out his anger on Dylan and leaving him with Dexter, Jack learns that his brother was kidnapped by Norman.

Jack calls the police as he and John are extremely worried until Dylan is found alive in a nearby forest a few days later and taken to the hospital. He has been traumatized by the ordeal of being left to die in the wilderness. The emotional trauma has rendered him mute.

Three days later, bringing Dylan home with Norman not seen for days, John begins getting agitated to the point of taking out his frustration at the Strick home with a bat, terrorizing the Stricks for their son's whereabouts before destroying Norman's beloved T-Bird. Fearing for his current state of mind, John lets his in-laws take the boys to their home in Los Angeles as he decides to shape up. Jack sneaks back to Oakland and falls asleep watching The Wolf Man. By the time John arrives home, Norman cuts the power as he sneaks into the house. Stirred awake by the outage, Jack is aware that someone intruded but accidentally knocks John out with a bat. Found by Norman, Jack runs upstairs and out the bathroom window to a branch of a nearby tree with Norman in pursuit as John regains consciousness. However, chased up to the higher point of the tree, Jack watches Norman losing his grip and falling into the backyard behind the Leary house where he is mauled to death by the neighbor's Doberman Pinschers. Soon after, as Norman's parents move away, Dylan returns home while John gets his job back with his show now airing more comical horror films like Abbott and Costello.

One afternoon, the neighborhood children all appear and ask if John will play one of his monster games with them as usual. After his experiences with Norman, John tells the children he won't play the monster game anymore. When they ask him why, John sees Dexter smoking a cigarette while realizing he's going down a dark path. John looks to the children that there are real monsters out there, but he promises to play a better game with them. Later finding Jack playing his mother's lullaby on the piano while getting Dylan to say the lullaby's title, John tries to comfort his son when he breaks down crying. As John gives Jack and himself closure, the two embrace Dylan after he says the title of Elizabeth's lullaby: "Jack the Bear". The next day, with their lives returning to normal, John watches his sons playing in the front yard.

Cast

Danny DeVito as John Leary
Robert J. Steinmiller Jr. as Jack Leary
Miko Hughes as Dylan Leary
Gary Sinise as Norman Strick
Art LaFleur as Mr. Festinger
Carl Gabriel Yorke as Gordon Layton
Stefan Gierasch as Father-in-Law
Andrea Marcovicci as Elizabeth Leary
Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Peggy Etinger
Reese Witherspoon as Karen Morris
Lee Garlington as Mrs. Festinger
Christopher Lawford as Vince Buccini
Justin Mosley Spink as Dexter

Production

CBS Theatrical Films and Jane Fonda's IPC Films had been attempting to adapt the novel Jack the Bear by Dan McCall into a feature film since the late 1970s.^[2] The project was considered as a directing vehicle for Fonda's former husband Roger Vadim with a script by Lawrence D. Cohen, until Vadim dropped out and was replaced by Bob Rafelson, with Jack Nicholson attached to star.^[2] The film ended up ultimately not happening due to the collapse of CBS Theatrical Films in 1985.

In 1989, it was reported that a new incarnation of the project was in development, with former CBS Theatrical Films hire Ron Yerxa as a co-producer and Steven Zaillian as a screenwriter.^[2] Principal photography began in April 1991.^[2] The film was initially slated for a Christmas 1991 release date, but due to a need for reshoots involving Danny DeVito's character, filming was not completed until July 1992 as DeVito had scheduling conflicts with his film Hoffa.^[2]

Reception

Reviews of the film were mixed to negative. Out of 18 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, Jack the Bear carries a 28% score with an average rating of 4.7/10.^[3] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B-" on an A+ to F scale.^[4]

Critics praised the acting, particularly DeVito's, with The Austin Chronicle's Marjorie Baumgarten writing, "The role of John Leary is a good one for DeVito, a character with many dimensions: bereaved spouse, good-time dad, local TV host of the nightly monster movie show, problem alcoholic."^[5]^[6] Roger Ebert awarded the film three out of four stars and said "some scenes in the movie are closely observed slices of real life".^[6] Critics agreed that the kidnapping plot concerning the sinister neighbor was unnecessary.^[6]^[5] Baumgarten noted that though the film is told from a child's perspective, "there's a deep brooding and uncertainty at the heart of this bear that's anything but kid stuff".^[5]

Awards and nominations

1994 Young Artist Awards^[7]

Won – Best Performance in a Feature Film - Supporting Actress: Reese Witherspoon
Nominated – Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Actor: Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.
Nominated – Best Performance in a Feature Film - Young Actor 10 or Younger: Miko Hughes

References

^ Jack the Bear at Box Office Mojo
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Jack the Bear (1993)". AFI. Retrieved September 13, 2023.
^ "Jack the Bear". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
^ "Home". CinemaScore. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Baumgarten, Marjorie (April 9, 1993). "Jack the Bear". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ebert, Roger (April 2, 1993). "Jack the Bear". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved January 10, 2024.
^ "15th Youth in Film Awards". YoungArtistAwards.org. Archived from the original on April 3, 2011. Retrieved January 7, 2024.