Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more
 

Jacknife (1988)

Director: David Jones

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

As Megs, a clearly unstable Vietvet whose sudden reappearence in the life of his now nearly alcoholic former buddy Dave (Harris) is part theraputic, part traumatic, De Niro is touching, funny and entirely convicing. The moment he arrives out of the blue at the Conneticut home Dave shares with his schoolmarm sister Martha (Baker), we immediately believe in Megs' inarticulacy, slobbishness and sensitivity. Dave's welcome is less than warm; Martha shifts from horror through hesitant acceptance to friendship. Unsurprisingly, as Megs' hidden strengths rise to the surface, he and Martha fall for each other; equally unsurprisingly, Dave - afraid of being alone - opposes their relationsip. The stage origins (Stephen Metcalfe's play Strange Snow) of this gently humorous, lyrical study in loneliness and the lasting legacy of 'Nam are all too evident; but Jones focuses attention on his three actors, all of whom serve him well. The obligatory 'Nam flashbacks are clumsy, the resolution a little pat; but De Niro, compelling from start to finish, carries the film.

Author: GA 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide

  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields


Cast & crew

Director: David Jones

Producer: Robert Schaffel, Carol Baum

Cast: Robert De Niro, Ed Harris, Kathy Baker, Charles Dutton, Elizabeth Franz, Tom Isbell, Loudon Wainwright III full cast

Duration: 103 mins


Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.