Review of You Don't Know Jack (2010) by Joshua L — 12 Jul 2012

Forget Captain Jack, it looks like Doctor Jack has a real life-destroying drug for you to take when you're down in the dumps. Eh, if I was going die at the hands of any Jack, then I would stick with the Captain, and I don't mean the drug dealer character who Billy Joel came up with, I mean the actual song "Captain Jack", because by the time that song is over, I'll probably be dead of old age, and plus, it's an absolutely amazing song (Kids, if you haven't heard it, then you're not allowed to listen to any other "music" until you hear it, even though by the time you finish it, it will probably have been the last song you ever heard), so the death will be an extra pleasant one; certainly more pleasant than what Dr. Jack Kevorkian probably has in mind, because on this film's poster, Al Pacino looks so perfect to be a serial killer that I'd imagine that Kevorkian has something more elaborate than giving you the option to euthanize yourself as a means of assisted suicide. I personally think that suicide is ridiculous, because it's pretty hard to find, well, anything worth dying for, but if I were to ever die by assisted suicide - which would probably be my type of suicide, seeing as how if I'm going to live by being too lazy to do something myself, then I'm going to die by it - my choice of death probably wouldn't be by skinning. Of course, again, it's just the poster that really makes Al Pacino look crazy as Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Oh yeah, because when you see him setting up people's suicide devices in the actual film, he seems totally reasonable. I'm surprised that this film didn't take liberties and have Kevorkian do something gory, because this is HBO, and they're big on making sure that you get your money's worth if you're gonna pay to not have censors. They certainly make sure that you get your money's worth if you're paying for good television, because this TV film is certainly better than the ones you usually find on network or cable, and yet, it still goes hurt quite a bit by quite a few factors.

If you're thinking that the subject matter doesn't quite sound as though it warrant a runtime that exceeds 130, then congrats Sherlock, you're right on the money, as the film finds itself frequently bloated by cuttable material and even repetition, and after a while, the film loses quite a bit of steam. Still, the gratuitous elongation of the film isn't quite the most glaring misstep, with biggest problems being found within this film's inability to run away from TV sensibilities forever. HBO may be the biggest of big shots when it comes to television filmmaking, but at the end of the day, this is still television filmmaking, and no matter how much it dodges those common faults, it's only a matter of time before it gets to feeling much too TV. Even at an overlong just over 130 minutes, the film still hits its rushed spots, plopping in certain events with limited exposition, thus throwing you off a bit and leaving our characters to not have enough motivation built up behind them for us to really feel for them, no matter how much the more overly theatrical manipulative moments try to force some resonance out of us. All of this goes into supplementing the film's very TV limiting of subtlety that doesn't give us enough depth into our characters, and we seriously need that when our primary focus is someone as complex and worthy of mixed emotions as Dr. Jack Kevorkian, because, on a personal level, I found myself discomforted by the film's moments of over-glorification of a man who may have been well-intentioned and humane in his suicide assistings, but still brought people to death nevertheless, and on a critical level, no matter how blasted good Al Pacino is as Kevorkian, the limited subtlety diluted the complexities to this character and left us to not get enough of a feel for his depths. The film breaks little, if any ground when it comes to television filmmaking, and simply comes out as yet another made-for-HBO film. Of course, in all fairness, as I said, HBO sure knows how to make good television, so by its own right, expect this film to deliver like most every other HBO effort.

Eigil Bryld's cinematography is mostly workmanlike, but finds its moments in which it stuns with its lovely emphasis on lighting that really does catch your eye. Still, it's not like you need a pretty camera shot to stick with this film, as its story is rock solid, perhaps not so much in execution, but enough in concept to really compel, which isn't to say that execution doesn't have its brights spots that really up the compellingness. Now, this isn't some Lifetime bull, where they take a story they like and slam-bang it together in an execution so bland, poor and conventional that they not only craft a mediocre mess, but ruin a worthy story, so while Barry Levinson doesn't handle this story as smoothly or as uniquely as he should have, or possibly would have without being pulled back by TV sensibilities, he draws plenty of intrigue and, maybe not too much depth, but still enough insight into these people, especially Kervorkian, for you to walk away with a lot to think about. The insight into these characters, of course, go intensified by the distinctive charisma and even intense emotional range of the star cast of such talents as a charming Danny Huston as Kevorkian's faithful lawyer, or a strong John Goodman as Kevorkian's dubious friend, or Brenda Vaccaro as Kevorkian's lively and loving sister, with leading man Al Pacino, as Kervorkian himself, particularly stepping up and reminding us of his being among the great classic actors by showing that he's still got it. Now, Pacino isn't quite going into an all-out burst of intense emoting, because this isn't the role for that, but what Pacino does about as well as you can be in this kind of role, expertly nailing Kevorkian's little mannerisms to spice up his transformation through an effortlessly thorough capturing of Kevorkian's personalities, depths and mindset with such awe-inspiring ease that you find yourself, well, hardly a minute into the film after Pacino hits the screen before you forget that you're even watching Al Pacino, and it's pretty hard to miss Al Pacino. Of course, the impressiveness of Pacino's performance doesn't simply end with his near-seamless transformation, for although the limited subtlety in the direction and writing keeps Pacino from unraveling the deepest of depths within someone as complex as Jack Kevorkian, when Pacino does manage to strike into the essence of Kevorkian, whether it be through some degree of strong emoting or a penetrating atmosphere, he unveils heavy layers and a deep sense of humanity that gives you a firm grip on the true being of Kevorkian. As I implied in my earlier statements against the concept of suicide and this film's occasional over-glorification of Kevorkian's acts, this film didn't fully reform my feelings towards Kevorkian, yet it did, with the help of Pacino's truly worthwhile performance - nay - transformation, leave my with much to chew on, and by the end I found myself entertained, compelled and overall more satisfied than not with the final product.

In the end, you'll be left having likely checked your watch time and again, as the film gets to be so bloated and rather repetitious, yet still doesn't go without hurried points and some emotional manipulativeness to intensify the fair couple of moments in which this film collapses into TV sensibilities and limits subtlety, complexity and even originality, yet not to where the film is rendered underwhelming or even all that disengaging, as it not only catches your eye with the occasional fine bit in cinematography, but also your investment by boasting such a strong story that goes really brought to life by both Barry Levinson's generally inspired direction and a collection of worthwhile performances among the star cast, with leading man Al Pacino, in particular, effortlessly transforming all but entirely, while gracefully piercing into the essence of Dr. Jack Kevorkian in order to create both a compelling lead and stand as one of the key aspects that make "You Don't Know Jack" a thoroughly engrossing and ultimately rewarding study on, as the tagline put it, "life and deaths of Jack Kevorkian" that really does tell you quite a bit of what you don't know about Jack.

3/5 - Good.