In New York City, Terry Doolittle is an eccentric but talented, helpful, and well-liked computer operator working for First National Bank. Terry regularly uses her computer to remotely communicate with and advise others around the world during her working day. Late one night, Terry is messaged by "Jumping Jack Flash," someone who claims to be a British Intelligence agent trapped in Eastern Europe and pursued by the KGB. Unable to make contact with his superiors, Jack asks Terry for help after she demonstrates her intelligence by cracking his encryption password based on their shared like of rock band The Rolling Stones. Jack requests that Terry deliver a coded message to Department C at the British consulate, but a staff member, Jeremy Talbot, claims no such department exists and cannot understand the message.
A computer technician later arrives at First National to inspect Terry's computer but when she calls security to check who sent him, the man disappears. Jack asks Terry to recover from his apartment a frying pan on which is concealed contact information for fellow agents, Mark Van Meter, Peter Caen, Archer Lincoln, and Harry Carlson. While there, someone photographs Terry and posts it on Jack's door to intimidate her. Returning to her taxi, the technician takes her hostage but she hits him with the pan and jumps out of the vehicle. Terry can only reach Van Meter, who agrees to meet her by the East River. However, they are ambushed and Van Meter is shot dead after pushing Terry into the river for safety. At his funeral, Terry meets an unhelpful Lincoln and Carlson's wife, Liz, who believes Harry is with Jack.
Terry messages Jack, who deduces Harry must have died after they were separated. Jack asks Terry to undertake a high-risk mission by breaking into the consulate and accessing the computer system during the Queen's anniversary ball. She infiltrates the event disguised as a singer and Liz helps distract Talbot while Terry connects a device to the computer so she can access it remotely. The following night, Terry remotely accesses the consulate computer to secure an exit route for Jack but Talbot disables the device before she finishes. Terry visits Liz's home for advice but finds it abandoned and Lincoln waiting for her. He confirms that Harry is dead and his family has been relocated and given new identities for protection.
The following morning, Terry persuades Jack's ex-girlfriend Lady Sarah Billings, now wife of the consul general, to arrange a new exit route for Jack. Terry is later abducted by the technician and his accomplices on the city streets but incapacitates the technician and escapes. She transmits the new plan to Jack before being recaptured by Talbot and his men. She deduces that Talbot is a mole for the KGB and he wants Jack, who he has framed for his crimes, dead because he learned the truth. The exit route was provided to Sarah by Talbot as a trusted consul advisor and it will lead Jack into a trap. Terry bluffs that she gave Jack a different exit route, preventing them from killing her immediately, and she successfully flees to the office to warn Jack. However, Talbot and his men assault the office, forcing Terry's co-workers to take cover, but her new colleague Marty shoots the men dead while Terry incapacitates Talbot. Marty reveals he is actually Peter Caen and supplies Jack with a safe exit route. Before losing contact with Jack, Terry reminds him to meet her for a date.
Terry waits at a restaurant for Jack but Peter arrives to tell her that Jack is stuck in England. Sometime later, Terry has been promoted to oversee her office, but she remains sad at Jack letting her down. She receives new messages from Jack which reveal he can see her and she turns to meet him for the first time; he invites her to dinner.
Cast
Whoopi Goldberg as Teresa "Terry" Doolittle, a well-liked bank employee with a wry attitude toward life
Stephen Collins as Marty Phillips, cover identity of CIA agent Peter Caen, working undercover as a new employee at First National Bank
John Wood as Jeremy Talbot, a KGBsleeper agent who works undercover at the British Consulate in New York City
Carol Kane as Cynthia, a co-worker and friend of Terry's at First National Bank
Annie Potts as Liz Carlson, another CIA agent and longtime friend of Jack
Peter Michael Goetz as Mr. Page, the manager of First National Bank and Terry's boss
In addition, a number of then current and future players from Saturday Night Live appeared in smaller roles, including Jon Lovitz, Phil Hartman (credited as Phil E. Hartmann), Jim Belushi and Michael McKean. Tracey Ullman appears in a cameo role, and the director’s daughter, Tracy Reiner, plays a secretary. Comedian Sam Kinison, who was dating director Penny Marshall at the time, was offered the role of Jack,[2] but Whoopi Goldberg nixed the deal, causing Marshall and Kinison to end their relationship and starting a bitter feud between Kinison and Goldberg.
Production
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Production of the film, originally conceived as a vehicle for Shelley Long, was problematic. The script was troubled and often was rewritten on the set.[1]
Principal photography for Jumpin' Jack Flash began on November 11, 1985 in New York City.[4] Various locations in the city, including the Statue of Liberty and Central Park, were used to depict the film's different settings.
After just ten days of filming in New York City, production was shut down and moved to Hollywood, due to creative differences between the studio and director Howard Zieff, who left the project, as did producer Marvin Worth.[5] It remains uncertain whether the footage shot in New York City prior to the production shutdown was incorporated into the final version of the film.
The original versions of "Set Me Free" (by the Pointer Sisters) and "Rescue Me" (by Fontella Bass) are heard in the film, rather than the covers on the soundtrack album.
Reception
Jumpin' Jack Flash received generally negative reviews from critics upon its release. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times praised Goldberg's performance but felt that she was harnessed to "an exhausted screenplay—an anthology of old ideas and worn-out clichés."[7]Vincent Canby of The New York Times blamed the failures of the film on its director, stating "Miss Marshall directs Jumpin' Jack Flash as if she were more worried about the decor than the effect of the performance."[8] On Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 33% based on reviews from 24 critics, with an average rating of 4.2/10.[9] On Metacritic, the film received a score of 52 based on 13 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10]
Although it was not well received by critics, the film was a modest success at the box office, opening at the #3 spot and making nearly $30 million in domestic sales.[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale.[12]
^ abAbramowitz, Rachel (2000). Is That a Gun in Your Pocket? Women's Experience of Power in Hollywood. New York: Random House. ISBN0-679-43754-1. pp. 296–298.
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