Okay it's not exactly the biggest stretch of casting to have Robin Williams playing a ten year old in the body of an adult. However, Jack is a pretty decent and funny movie. Jack Powell is born and he ages at four times the normal rate. For the first ten years of his life he is tutored at home and sheltered by his parents. Bill Cosby plays his tutor Mr. Woodruff. Diane Lane and Brian Kerwin play his parents who are reluctant to send Jack to public school because they fear the other children's reactions to him. When he does go to school, his teacher, played by Jennifer Lopez, welcomes him with open arms while, predictably the kids are both awed and afraid, and teasing soon follows. Jack gains acceptance when the boys realize that he is a natural for basketball, and he soon is running with a whole group of new friends.

The rest of the movie is basically about Jack and how his body is just naturally slowing down, leading to his withdrawal from school, his eventual return, and the epilogue at his high school graduation.

Jack was a pretty charming film and I liked the way that Robin Williams acted in his scenes with Diane Lane as the 10 year old with a strong bond with his mother, and her feelings of longing when he shows that he is pulling away when he gains friends his own physical age.

This movie has something very important attached to it: a message of life. This is due to the underlying themes as well as to Robin Williams' touching performance which is saddening and inspirational at the same time. He is able to transform the sheer hopelessness of his fate which subjects him to an early death with such outstanding and sincere skills that are deeply moving. Apart from that his entire character - as it is designed - demands substantial acting throughout the whole plot. He delivers a performance that many other actors would simply not have been able to accomplish. It takes a special kind of actor to portray such a character just as Jack here. The message is that despite a fate that destines us to be exposed to tremendous agonies and blank despair, there is always a light of hope, and this light burns in our hearts. It's up to us only what we do with the time that we're granted with. In Jack's case time is even more precious than for normal people. Despite the sadness and despair that is ultimately caused thereby, we still have the chance to make the best out of every minute. All we have to do is value the little things, such as friendship and love, and thus escape the shades of darkness. The movie itself is funny and sincere, it has important dialogues and, as stated above, a real massage, which makes it special. Watch out for it.

When you see a shooting star... Robin Williams makes a really great acting as a 10 year old boy!, it's amazing how he can represent the feelings of a boy of this age!; the only role almost similar that i saw was Tom Hanks in Big (1988); but Tom act as a totally shy boy; Williams combines here innocence with happiness and a funny life!. The message of the movie is touching and with a beautiful message! In this touching and really good story you will surely have an important message for life: live everyday as it was your last, and always maintain that child that you'll always have inside you (as Mr. Woodruff). The role of Fran Drescher as Miss Dolores is also great too!

ABOUT THE MOVIE: Robin Williams plays here Jack Powell, a child who has a medical disorder that makes him grow four times faster than any other boy, because of this, he, at the age of 10 looks like a man of 40 years, only that his brain and behavior maintains like the child he really is. Only this makes this role a total challenge for any actor. Jack's fathers (Diane Lane as Karen and Brian Kerwin as Brian) don't put him on a regular school afraid of what his classmates or other people will say; but at the age of 10, and after an excellent and touchable education of Mr. Woodruff (Bill Cosby), they decide to put him on a normal school where he finds difficulties but also great friends, specially Louis and Eddie (Adam Zolotin and Todd Bosley), he finds also an amazing teacher, Miss Marquez (Jennifer Lopez).

Good movie,..Worth to watch 8/10

Robin Williams is great as a ten year old, who looks like 40. When he plays with his mother (Diane Lane), explores the world or has a rendez-vous with the mother of his best friend - that is more than well-played. Williams as Jack: his best role after playing Adrian Cronauer in "Good Morning,Vietnam".Supported by the lovely, warm performances of Jennifer Lopez and Bill Cosby, Williams makes "Jack" a wonder. You can either love or hate this movie, depending on your RQ (=Romance quotient).

If you give this movie a chance, let your imagination go and you will believe (if you WANT to) that Robin Williams *is* a ten year old boy. I was surprised at how much I actually liked it. The premise sounds weak, but they did a fairly good job with it. The kids in the movie are great....... and the term "boys will be boys" is never as true as in the 'treehouse' scene. Watch it if you have boys ! You'll know what I mean! There is little if any 'language' in this movie ; no shoot-em-ups; no sex...the family can watch this together safely. Enjoy and let your imagination go... be a kid again!

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 ****

This could have been an absolutely wonderful film, but due to a one big criticism it remains a nice film, in all the bog-standard sense of the word.

Robin Williams plays the part of a 10-year old trapped in a 40-year old's body, but the big problem is that we can't help but see Robin Williams himself. Anyone that has seen his stand-up comedy will know that Williams is exactly that (10 years old trapped in a body 30 years senior). Whilst his performance would have been quite believable, the film would have worked much better with a lesser-known actor (even one not known for comedy) in the role. I still cannot believe that the great FFC directed this film - it defies all movie sense. However he has done a fine job, and the cast work well together. Miss Lopez makes a very appealing schoolteacher (only in Hollywood!!), and the child actors work hard.

Good fun, but you may find yourself frustrated.

Spielberg directing Hook seemed a very odd choice, and this is a very odd choice for director Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather, Apocalypse Now). Imagine if you will a twist on the Big format, a boy in the body of a man, well, this film has him born like it and unable to escape it. Anyway, basically Jack Charles Powell is born with a most unusual ageing disorder which makes him four times faster than a regular boy, so by the time he is ten years old, he looks forty odd. Jack (Robin Williams) is longing to be like a normal ten year old boy, even when his parents Karen (Diane Lane) and Brian (Brian Kerwin) worry about what everyone will think. Obviously when he first arrives, Jack is picked on by the kids for looking like an older man, with only teacher Miss Marquez (Jennifer Lopez) as his friend, but he eventually wins them over with his basketball skills and true child within nature. There comes a point when Jack has some sort of heart attack and his parents decide he would be much safer at home, and Jack can't face seeing his friends getting older. But he does eventually come out of his room and back to school, and a few years later, in his teens, he is looking like an old man, graduating college. Also starring Bill Cosby as Lawrence Woodruff, Fran Drescher as Dolores 'D.D.' Durante, Adam Zolotin as Louis 'Louie' Durante, Todd Bosley as Eddie and Michael McKean as Paulie. I can see what the critics mean by Williams overacting the child in a man's body thing, but you can't imagine the film without him, and Lopez is nice as his teacher. Even if it's a very, very lame film you probably wouldn't bother with again, it does have some heart, and it is worth watching, at least once in a while. Okay!

I'm sorry, but just having read a few of the comments on here I am absolutely astounded! The problem is that what people seem to be doing here is reviewing the film as one whole pot, where as that is not how it works. I film has so many layers that it is impossible to tell how great it is without reviewing them all. Everyone seems to look at the plot and disregard it straight away when the acting in it is so unbelievable. Robin Williams may well be a very childish man but this went so beyond anything that can even come close to a normal personality, he is completely convincing 100% of the time, at no point in the movie do you ever doubt his being only 10 years old. This film may have a strange plot and weirdly written but the acting is phenomenal and William's is, of course, the star in the show. I actually feel very sorry for the actors around him in this, how can they possibly shine when with him and they were all great as well so that just heightens Williams' ability. This is a fantastic film simply because of Robin Williams!

There was aomething a bit off about this film, but I, for some reason still liked it.I think it has many possible meanins depending on how you look at the story, I remebered seeing it when I was quite young... I thought that Jacks parents would have to see their child die and that was sad. I saw it when I was older and thought maybe it was about not taking life for granted and living life to its fullest, but that still didn't really seem quite right...And then I thought maybe it is about always being a kid even when your an adult, but that makes absolutely no sense with the story.......... and maybe I was right when I was a younger and I thought that it was about loosing a child... not only to death but to friends.... perhaps the aging thing was added to show a different form of somebody being picked on, as Jack was in the movie, even if they may look tougher.

I thought the relationship between jack and His mother was brillant, I really felt that, however I thought parts of the story digressed whoch gave the story multiple meanings....which is interesting to ponder, but in some cases makes the story jump around to much, adn I am the kind of person who likes movies to jump around a bit if you can not tell y my writting style.... I loved the chracters though...

please forgive me for my randomness and at the moment tired-ness....overall, it was thought provoking, sweet,and just a little bit off....

Many reviewers have compared this work to Tom Hanks's Big, wherein a young boy wishes he were "big," and the wish is granted. However, this work is the anti-thesis of that work, as an adult portrays a young child, physically, which thrusts Jack into the same venue as Martin Short's "Clifford," which was done some two years prior to this work.

That not withstanding, Clifford was a holy terror, while Jack is a mother's dream. While both works require a total suspension of belief in order to enjoy them, Jack is endearing, sweet, sentimental, and entertaining. There is nothing endearing, sweet, or sentimental about Clifford.

Jack is born with a genetic disorder which causes him to age 4 years for every 10, thereby causing him to appear as a 40 year old man at the age of 10.

Many have bludgeoned Coppola's involvement in such a scheme, citing his prior "masterpiece" works while bemoaning this one. The fans seem to forget that artistic people who do not spread their wings, and plant their feet on strange ground, never grow as individuals and artists.

Some found this work "insulting" due to the premise. It is called unintelligent. But not all films are based on intellect, and not all movie-goers care to have to think in order to enjoy a movie. And there is the added benefit of the heartwarming sentiment carried by this work.

It did well in the box office, nearly doubling its budget, worldwide, and is generally under-rated here at IMDb (if only mildly so), which says that word of mouth (that this film wasn't as bad as the critics said) carried this film further than the negative reviews would have liked.

It rates a 6.2/10 from...

the Fiend :.

What happened? Coppola. The man made The Godfather One and Two (we'll just ignore Three), Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation. Now? The Rainmaker? The Outsiders? Jack? Jack? What in God's name could he been thinking? And Robin Williams? He had so much promise! Did you see The World Accoriding to Garp? He's brilliant and subtle and touching. Now there is Jack. It nearly depresses me too much to type. I don't know if I can actually do this. You read the synopsis. How could this bit be turned into something interesting? Don't show him at the innocent and dewey part of his life! Show him in his adolescent rage as a teenager while stuck in an elderly body! Show his adolescent hormone shift when he is a toddler! My God! The possibilities! The waste! The pity and pathos! It makes me want to cry! Instead they serve us saccharine dreck as if they are doing us a favor! The nerve! The gall!

I had looked forward to JACK when it first came out back in 1996. I remember renting it when it reached video and being severely disappointed. Williams, first of all, is good at channeling a child - we all know that already. The problem lies in the film's schmaltzy, good-natured, sugar-coated outer layer that is sickeningly fake and annoying.

Coppola hasn't really made a good movie I can think of (or, a good movie worth remembering at least) since THE GODFATHER PART III (and not many will even agree with me on that choice! Some might go as far back as APOCALYPSE NOW in '79). It's disappointing to see him resorting to the hack-job he does here - ANYONE could have directed this movie. I never, ever - in a million years - would have suspected it was the product of Francis Ford Coppola.

The movie's ending is "feel-good" - but not in a good way. Instead, when it's over, you feel as if you've just watched a 2-hour soap opera spliced with moments of awkward comedy. The plot would be great for a silly comedy; unfortunately, Coppola turns his movie into some sort of half-cocked drama/epic-wannabe. Simply put, it isn't.

Watching this movie is absolutely stunning. Not because it is a good movie, but because this immature, idiotic, brainless mess was directed by the same person who directed The Godfather! How does that happen? How can a man have such an incredible run in the 70's, making literally some of the greatest movies ever made, and then go on to make Jack? But I digress. Jack is the story about a boy who ages four times faster than a normal human being. He lives in his house with his two loving parents and his tutor, played by Bill Cosby. Why Cosby subjected himself to this schlock I don't know, but that's beside the point. After ten years of seclusion Jack realizes he wants to go to school, so his parents reluctantly enter him in public school. It seems the smarter thing to do would have been to put him in private school, but let's face it, there's nothing smart about this film. But anyways, Jack begins to make friends and meet all kinds of new people, his age and older. What is supposed to be a heartwarming tale of friendship and acceptance really just turns into a silly and jumbled mess with a boring story fueled by a poor script.

You know your film is set for disaster when it starts with a dumb premise. There's only so many places a premise like this can go, but the film doesn't even make the most out of what little it has to work with. Every situation is predictable, and nothing elicits a laugh, at least not from me. I could blame this on Jack being a kids film, but the problem is, Jack is not a kids film. It's rated PG-13 and has all sorts of innuendo and adult situations. Jack gets his friends adult magazines and they sit in their treehouse talking about erections and women. So I feel like the humor here is supposed to be adult, but I didn't enjoy it at all, but I hardly think a child would either. It's just too stupid and ridiculous to the point where instead of anything being funny, it is all just sort of awkward and forced.

By the end of this film it takes a turn towards the serious, but fails just as much here as it did when it was a comedy. This is probably due to the fact that I just had no interest in the characters or their story by this point in the film. Everything that had happened up to this point was just so pathetic and forgettable that it built a wall between me and the films emotion. Maybe under different circumstances in which the first half of the film had been engaging, the last half would have really pulled at me heart strings. But in this case it didn't at all and I could have cared less what happened to Jack and all his friends. Nothing about this film seems real. It all feels like actors delivering a mediocre script, all the while wondering what the hell they are doing on this set for such a bad movie. Then they remember, oh right! I'm getting to work with the genius behind The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Only now he's lost his mind and is directing horrible dramadies.

Watching a film like this just makes you want to go back and watch the Coppola classics, just to remind yourself that this man is a genius. And that's the thing. With so many incredible films under his belt, Jack can be easily forgotten and we can all pretend like it never happened. Hell, Coppola could direct Smokey and the Bandit sequels for the rest of his life, but he would still go down in history as one of the greatest directors who ever lived. But even if you take Coppola out of the equation, Jack is still an awful movie with no motivation and no heart behind it. Spare yourself the two hours and avoid this film at all costs.

An all-star cast are recruited together to tell the tale of a 10-year old boy whose body grows 4 times that of a normal kid his age.

Robin Williams ('Hook') is great as the title role, while Fran Drescher ('The Nanny') and Jennifer Lopez ('Money Train') are also fantastic. Bill Cosby is also here, as good as ever.

The storyline and scripting is good (nothing great) and the acting is first-class... even the kids have some talent!

A feel-good family film that has some very funny moments and some very sad moments, but all-in-all a really good film. 7/10.

Karen Powell (Diane Lane) gives birth 7 months early but it looks like a full term pregnancy. The boy Jack (Robin Williams) is aging rapidly about 4 times the normal rate. The doctors have never seen anything like it. For 10 years, he's been hidden away at home. He's home-schooled with tutor Lawrence Woodruff (Bill Cosby). On his advise, Jack is sent to public school. Miss Marquez (Jennifer Lopez) is his new teacher.

Director Francis Ford Coppola is making this fantasy. He needs the style to match but he doesn't have it. This is simply made to allow Robin Williams to act like a child. He's not given something more compelling to do. It's not funny enough to be a comedy. It's like an after school special. It misses an opportunity to be fanciful. This plays like a bad weird kid's movie. I do have to say that it's weird to see Robin Williams playing around with a bunch of little kids. The good thing about 'Big' was that Tom Hanks acted childish around a bunch of adults. That's much funnier. Even in the adult world, this doesn't have any fun. This is obvious not Coppola's finest moment. He just doesn't have the comedic touch.

'Jack' as a film is almost as confused as the central character. Although touted on the back of the DVD box as being a 'family comedy', its humour sometimes means it's anything but.

It's shining light without doubt is Robin Williams. I can't imagine anyone else playing the role really. He manages to capture the childish side of Jack perfectly,while also portraying the inner struggle well too. Sadly the film never seems to know what it wants to be (Comedy? Drama?)and a fine performance gets lost in the middle.

My big flaw with the film apart from the tone is the length. It does go on a bit. There's a whole 20 minute section in which nothing really happens to drive the plot.

But then, just as you're about to give up on it, the ending is great. Funny, moving, not overly sentimental,it's a lovely moment.

With sharper editing and a sense of focus 'Jack' could be up there with Robin Williams' best work but sadly it never quite lives up to potential.

I have always loved all of Robin Williams movies and this is an awesome movie that many people take for granted and misunderstand. If you really see this through the eyes of depth and love and truth then you will see that we often forget and are afraid to believe in what is real and true. jack is a symbol of all innocence and kindness, not meaning to hurt anyone and only being human dealing with something that is not his fault. I cry in this movie every time and can totally relate to what is being said. The feelings of love, friendship and emotion as well as deep thinking and feeling is often lost. Sad because that is what makes us a better person and a more caring person.

"Jack, you'll never be regular. You're spectacular."--Mr. Woodruff (Bill Cosby) Cosby asks Jack if he's ever sat and looked at the stars in the night sky. The sky is filled with regular stars. They burn slowly and faintly and their light lasts a long time. But, if you're lucky and you're looking in the right direction at just the right moment you'll see a shooting star. You almost never see them. They're rare. He tells him he's a shooting star amongst regular stars. A shooting star is wonderful, but passes quickly. It's only here for a moment but while it's here the other stars stop and watch.

"When a shooting star streaks through the blackness turning night into day, make a wish and think of me and make your life spectacular. I know I did."--Jack (Robin Williams)

I watched ten minutes of this and felt pretty sick.

There have been documentaries on this subject on television of real children that are actually interesting, sad and happy by turns in the real world. What got into people to make such a thing is beyond me. This is the worst kind of sentimental mawkishness and a thoroughly sick and bad idea irrespective of the intentions. I think if we can have a film about marching penguins, or more seriously the columbine massacres shown at the cinema its about time we were able to face an actual documentary about a child with this condition instead of this horrible, horrible proxy for one.

By the way... The central conceit that children with this syndrome look like Robin Williams is so very far off beam. In actuality they are the same height as normal children with an adult facial appearance and other attributes. (I know from a made for TV documentary that did this whole thing PROPERLY) This film is a total travesty. Only in America! If you are a buyer for a TV company: I am sure you can find the documentary I watched instead if you really try. Show that instead.

...but it's not for kids. There IS indeed a handful of sexual innuendo as well as some actual groping. The fact that the groper is Williams' ten-year-old character and that the gropee is his friend's MOTHER makes it border on the disgusting. Thank goodness the scene is over with quickly. The rest of the movie is delightful, albeit sappy. I like good sap. All of the characters are likeable - a huge plus in my book.

You would have thought after HOOK that no one would ever hire Robin Williams again, least of all to play a man child, which in effect is what he also played in HOOK. This time around, Williams plays a boy who suffers from a disease that rapidly ages him, so that by the time he turns 10, he looks 40. And by the time he turns 20, he looks like John Carpenter. No, that's not right. He looks dead. Anyhow, Jack goes to school with the kiddies, and as he ages (in terrible aging makeup), he grows weaker and weaker. It is simply inconceivable that JACK was ever made. Williams is horrible. There is nothing appealing about watching a middle-aged hairy guy sitting behind a kids' classroom desk. And this was made by the director of THE GODFATHER, no less!

Jack could be one of the most horrible movies I've ever seen. I'm not quite sure if this was due to the bad acting, bad directing, bad writing, bad filming, or due to its nauseating story line but whatever it was, I wish this movie on to no one. You would think that with a great actor such as Robin Williams whose acting career has showing nothing but a pure genius (Bicentennial Man, Flubber, Patch Adams, etc.) that the film would somehow be able to overcome it. I don't think so. However, I will say one positive thing about this movie. After exiting the theater and remembering that killing myself isn't the last resort in life, I felt a hell of a lot better.

JACK is directed by Francis Ford Coppola and stars Robin Williams in the title role of a boy who ages at four times the natural rate. While somewhat of an oddball choice for Coppola, known especially for the Godfather trilogy, this material is rather characteristic for Williams in this period of his career.

Basically, it's a sentimental dramedy that elicits laughter and tugs at the heartstrings. However, this is clearly one of Williams' lesser films. The situation felt contrived and silly, merely an excuse for Williams to engage in puerile antics. What was more astonishing is that this entire film was played straight by everyone. I did laugh some, particularly at a couple scenes involving the physical comedy of Robin Williams playing a 10-year-old in a 40-year-old man's body, but I didn't laugh as much as I would have liked. The moments where they go for poignancy also fell flat a lot of the time, again mostly because of the contrived situation.

However, the film is generally well-acted. Of course Robin Williams does a fine job, but Diane Lane and Bill Cosby in particular turn in good performances as well. Jennifer Lopez and Fran Drescher also show up, but more as eye candy for horny boys than anything. Looking at recent cases involving teachers sleeping with their students, the implications of the scenes involving Jack and those two characters might come off as irresponsible, the subject matter is handled as tastefully as possible (as opposed to something like THAT'S MY BOY, in which Adam Sandler plays a man-child of sorts). I did find one scene between Fran Drescher and Robin Williams as tender, but nothing more.

Given the circumstances surrounding Jack's life, you might think that the film goes for a tearjerker of an ending, but it doesn't. Still, I do feel like the closing speech, which sums up the message of the movie, was tacked on and unnecessary to a degree. It was a sentiment better expressed in Williams' earlier movies, such as DEAD POETS SOCIETY. Overall, while still funny and touching in mostly equal measure, the direction was flat and the story was about as inspiring as a Lifetime movie. For die-hard Robin Williams fans (or of Francis Ford Coppola) only. Everyone else would do well to skip it.

How could Francis Ford Coppolla, a man who has brought a plethora of awesome movies (Godfather trilogy, Apocalypse, Dracula, Rainmaker even) stoop to this? Even when I first saw this movie years ago (before I saw Coppolla's good movies) something was off. Here, Coppolla brings Williams to the role of Jack Powell, a boy who at the age of 10 looks like he's 40 from an age disorder he had at birth. True, Williams isn't a bad choice for the movie, but the big mistake is the direction (and then some) the script takes. This movie might've been even more interesting if they showed Jack perhaps at 5 looking 20 or younger, or in-between. It is too sitcomish to have the character at exactly 10 and 40 since these are ages that are set ups in themselves. In all, Jack is not worth the watch, unless you want to see Bill Cosby blowing farts into a can.