Discover
-
Robert F. Boyle
Production Design -
Mike Tillman
Stunts -
Garry Marshall
Thanks -
Walter Scott
Stunts -
Nancy Meyers
Screenplay -
John-Clay Scott
Stunts -
Penny Marshall
Director -
James L. Brooks
Thanks
-
John Chard
5/16/2024 3:22:19PM
Are you on some kind of medication? It was a production beset with problems, a change of director (Penny Marshall replacing the jettisoned Howard Zieff) and enough script writers used to fill out a hockey team. So it's unsurprising to find that Jumpin' Jack Flash is a bit muddled, not fully formed as it were. Plot finds Whoopi Goldberg as a computer programmer thrust into a world of espionage when a plea for help appears on her monitor. Cue Whoopi following instructions from a guy claiming to be trapped in Eastern Europe, which of course leads to a number of fun scenes as she bluffs her way around the crooked underworld she now finds herself in. Will she stay alive long enough? Who are the undercover guys? Is the mysterious man on the computer screen really all he proclaims to be? It will all be answered in rank and file 1980s action comedy time, which as it happens is OK here because Goldberg is a good enough comedy actress to hold the attention. Nothing remotely smart or genre defining exists, but it's a fun snapshot of the burgeoning computer age in the 80s and it's a good time waster if stuck for something light to watch one night. 6/10
Michael McKean
Leslie (uncredited)Whoopi Goldberg
Terry DolittleJonathan Pryce
JackPhil Hartman
FredAnnie Potts
Liz CarlsonCarol Kane
CynthiaJim Belushi
Sperry RepairmanTracey Ullman
Fiona