Jack

Robin Williams gives an outstanding performance in "Jack", a movie about a boy with an extreme growing disorder.
We first see Mrs. Powell dressed as a witch at a costume party from which she is rushed to a hospital where she gives birth to Jack Powell after being pregnant for only ten weeks. We learn that Jack has a disorder that causes him to grow four times the normal human rate.
We then see Jack spending his days lonely and holed up in his home, a ten year-old boy that has the physical body of a forty year-old man. Bill Cosby plays Jack's private instructor, who homeschools him.
Finally, after prodding from his instructor, Jack's parents allow him to go to school.
Jack is at first shunned and ridiculed by his fellow fifth-graders, but slowly earns their friendship by proving that you can't judge a book by its cover.
The movie ends at Jack's high school graduation. Jack was valedictorian and gives a powerful speech. By this time Jack appears to be an elderly man, but is really 18.
Jack is a heart warming and laughter provoking movie about enjoying life while you have it, and I highly recommend it.

J: 4/5 Stars

"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." -Robin Willliams as Jack
Jack is a bittersweet tale about a boy who, despite certain setbacks, is determined to live and enjoy his childhood.
The movie begins after an odd premature birth, where we learn that Jack ages at four times the average rate. Because of this he is kept out of society for ten years. Jack is visited by a tutor (Bill Cosby) every day. Although the tutor likes teaching Jack, he realizes that he is lonely and convinces Jack's parents to insert him into the public education system. At first he isn't too popular, but finally he wins over the class by using his condition to his advantage. The ways he gets them to accept him are refreshingly true: he can buy porno magazines and dominate the basketball courts. However, Jack has several confrontations with the adult world. His attempts of getting together with his school teacher fails and ends up getting in a brawl at at the local bar. It doesn't help when he recieves a "what I want to be when I grow up" assignment that truly affects him. When his friends are twenty he will probably be dead. The movie ends with a speech of triumph that is both tear jerking and heart warming.
Robin Williams definitely wins the best perfomance award. Here, he is able to bring a poignancy to the role while capturing the youthfulness of being a kid. Francois Ford Coppolay who is usually the director of hard, serious dramas, (see the Godfather) has taken a different route by making a human drama enclosed by comedy. Because of this, he has made one of the most honest movies in recent years. Jack is a joy to watch and a movie to treasure.

The story is cool and the directing by FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA is very good. Worth checking out for the excellent performances by the all-star cast.