Jack the Bear

1993

Action / Comedy / Drama

7
IMDb Rating 6.5/10 10 4636 4.6K

neo-nazism clown widower oakland athletics child kidnapping

Plot summary

Story of the relationships between two sons and their father, who moves the family to California and becomes a tv horror show host after the death of his wife.

Director

Marshall Herskovitz Photo
Marshall Herskovitz

Top cast

Art LaFleur Photo
Art LaFleur as Mr. Festinger
Reese Witherspoon Photo
Reese Witherspoon as Karen Morris
Bert Remsen Photo
Bert Remsen as Mitchell
Julia Louis-Dreyfus Photo
Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Peggy Etinger
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
906.13 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds ...
1.82 GB
1920*1080
English 5.1
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 38 min
Seeds 15

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by gavin6942 6 / 10

Strong Performances But A Lacking Movie

Danny DeVito is John Leary, a professional clown, whose wife's death in a car accident has left him to care for his two young boys.Some aspects of the film are really good. I liked Danny DeVito's Al Gory character, for example. And the performances as a whole are strong -- we get not only DeVito, but also Gary Sinise, Miko Hughes, and Reese Witherspoon in what has to be one of her earliest roles (I could look it up but I didn't).The overall film seems lacking, though. The kidnapping part feels off, and the whole Neo-Nazi aspects come across as exaggerated and unrealistic. Maybe I just don't know the 1970s, but this did not strike me as a real situation.
Reviewed by cosmic_quest 7 / 10

Another revealing look at growing up

'Jack the Bear' is drama set in the Seventies revolving around Leary family and their first summer since the loss of their wife and mother. John hosts a late-night horror show and, while he has an understanding of television, he struggles to be a proper father to his sons, thirteen-year-old Jack and four-year-old Dylan. Instead Jack is left to be a substitute parent to his young brother while not only going through adolescence but is also struggling with the recent loss of his mother.This film is a much darker version of the subjects brought up in 'My Girl' with the lead here being a boy instead of a girl. It was quite interesting to see a boy (instead of a girl who is usually cast in such movies) cope with the loss and guilt over his mother's death, shouldering the responsibility of caring for his little brother and alcoholic father and learning the lessons of his first love.One of the main themes of the film is coming-of-age, both for Jack and his father. John is relearning how to be a parent without his partner by his side and redefining his relationship with his boys. As for Jack, as a boy of thirteen, he is starting to see life through an adult's eyes as he lets go of childhood innocence. One of the harshest lessons of the adultworld he learns, is that not all monsters are ugly things who live in the closet and humans can be evil too when his younger brother kidnapped by a Nazi neighbour who harbours a grudge against his father and a young lad in his neighbourhood develops some Nazi traits when he turns to the wrong person for a role model.This films is really enjoyable, both with cute moments (Jack's little brother is adorable) and darker, angstier times. Definitely worth a look.
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