Jack the Bear (1993)
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29% of critics liked it
(17 reviews) -
54% of users liked it
(4,647 ratings)
Marshall Herskovitz directed this tearjerking schizophrenic combination of The Wonder Years and To Kill a Mockingbird. It is 1972, and John Leary (Danny De Vito) and his two sons Jack (Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.) and Dylan (Miko Hughes) have just moved to Oakland, California. John is a television… More Marshall Herskovitz directed this tearjerking schizophrenic combination of The Wonder Years and To Kill a Mockingbird. It is 1972, and John Leary (Danny De Vito) and his two sons Jack (Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.) and Dylan (Miko Hughes) have just moved to Oakland, California. John is a television celebrity who has been fired from one station after another, appearing now on a cheap local station as the Saturday night host of a horror-film showcase. But John spends most of the time drinking and grieving over the loss of his wife, who was recently killed in an accident. The children try to adapt to their new school, and the family tries to adapt to the collection of kooks that populate their neighborhood. Foremost among them is Norman Strick (Gary Sinise), a sinister neo-Nazi who lives across the street. When Strick circulates a petition for the local white-supremacist candidate, John gets drunk and attacks him on his television show. As a result, Strick takes his revenge by abducting one of John's children. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Directed By
- Marshall Herskovitz
- Written By
- Steven Zaillian, Steven Zallian
- Genres
- Drama, Action & Adventure, Comedy
PG-13,
- In Theaters
- Apr 2, 1993 Wide
- Studio
- Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat, Spirituality and Practice
Danny DeVito gives the most compelling performance of his career in a gripping drama about a single parent and his two sons.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
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Cast
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Danny DeVito
as John Leary
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Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.
as Jack Leary
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Miko Hughes
as Dylan Leary
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Gary Sinise
as Norman Strick
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Julia Louis-Dreyfus
as Peggy Etinger
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Reese Witherspoon
as Karen Morris
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Erica Yohn
as Mother-in-Law
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Stefan Gierasch
as Father-in-Law
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Bert Remsen
as Mr. Mitchell
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Andrea Marcovicci
as Mrs. Elizabeth Leary
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Cliff Bemis
as Detective Marker
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Sarah Bork
as Grad Student
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Monica Calhoun
as Sondra
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Kelly Connell
as Fireman
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Sam Freed
as Mr.Morris
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Lee Garlington
as Mrs.Festinger
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Art La Fleur
as Mr.Festinger
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Christopher Lawford
as Vince Buccini
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Donovan Leitch
as Grad Student
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Dorothy Lyman
as Mrs.Morris
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Kevin McDermott
as Cop
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Troy W. Slaten
as Edward Festinger
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Scott Thomson
as Street Worker
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Lorinne Vozoff
as Mrs.Mitchell
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Paul Wilson
as Street Worker
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Charles Dugan
as Mr.Strick
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Justin Mosley Spink
as Dexter Mitchell
- Mary Goldberg
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Christy Botkin
as Nursery School Teacher
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Carl Gabriel Yorke
as Gordon Layton
