Jack & Sarah (1995)

Originally written by UK sitcom writer Tim O'Sullivan, Jack and Sarah is one of the very best British films that graced British cinema. The story begins with couple Jack and Sarah getting all loved up, Sarah then goes into labour and her husband, who panics, has to drive her to the hospital. Eventually, she gives birth to a healthy and beautiful baby daughter, much to the delight of Jack. Unfortunately, joy turns to anguish when Sarah dies during the childbirth, devastating Jack in the process. As a single parent, he faces a somewhat un daunting task of looking after his daughter, of whom he names Sarah whilst at the same time juggling his work responsibilities. Luckily for him, he meets an American woman named Amy, who earns her living as a waitress and thus, he hires her as his babysitter, much to the disapproval of Jack's mother played by Dame Judy Dench and so-called bum-turned butler played by Sir Ian McKellan. Thus, it isn't long before a romantic sub-plot involving Amy and Jack develops later on. Although the scheming Anna- Jack's boss, does go to great lengths to snake-charm her way into Jack's affections. Whilst Amy is sweet, down-to-earth and considerate, Anna comes across as rather self-centred, selfish and somewhat a nasty piece of work.The story very much centres on the relationship between Jack and Amy and the realisation that they are in love with one another, hence the transition from workers to eventual lovers. Samantha Mathis successfully manages to convey a quality in Amy that makes us want to like her and after her appearance in that awful Super Mario Brothers movie, she has redeemed herself in this movie.Jack and Sarah is a film with a very simple plot that is easy to understand, and yet its the performances by the two actors Grant and Mathis that make it a very good film overall. It's sentimental-yet still pleasing to eye, and though whilst this film deals with the issue of fatherhood and being a single parent, the romantic sub-plot involving Jack and Amy still plays an important part in the film, by means of which it implies that whilst being a single father, one doesn't have to give up hope in finding love and in falling in love with that person. Which is what happened with Jack and Amy.In all, it is well-written, well directed with a good cast and though whilst I am not a huge fan of Brit flicks, Jack and Sarah is extremely good. Highly recommended.

A curious film. Patently chasing the golden goose formula of Four Weddings and a Funeral this comic film is replete with genuine tragedy, an American girl and a fairly top-drawer British cast. Indeed the film succeeds effortlessly when the actors have a reasonable chunk of script or scene to work with (with the exception of the mediocre Samantha Mathis). I also really enjoyed the fluid comedy, moving between the obvious and the surprising, equally well delivered by the ensemble.The film falls down though in its rather piecemeal approach. There's a feeling, almost literally, of the film being put together as if by marketeering scientists, looking to maximise its impact. There any number of bizarrely framed shots and loose ends - the set piece is king at the expense of overall cohesion. 4/10 but, hang on, I was conspicuously aware of it not being written or directed by Richard Curtis, so 5/10 for avoiding clone status.

I spent an hour hoping this movie was going to finally get in gear before deciding it just wasn't going to happen. It has its moments, but the story is ridiculous, as are the actions of the characters, the humor is mild and the drama is maudlin. While the main problem is the drab script and pedestrian direction, the movie is also harmed by Mathis' performance. This is not to say that she is particularly bad, but she is not warm and loving and charming to make the film's absurd premise work. She seemed kind of ordinary, and that is exactly what the role does not call for. I like Grant, and he's decent in this, although I think he only really shines in more prickly roles. This just doesn't make it.

Life is not neat or logical. People can act irrationally or inconsistently and regret it later. Even when we try our best, with the best of intentions, things can go wrong. Events don't develop along straight lines. Beginnings and endings are often blurred and uncertain. Apparently random elements are always intruding. Does that mean a film that has those qualities is disorganized and frustrating or true to life? We've seen this story, or something like it, before: Man madly in love with wife loses her in childbirth, struggles to rebuild his life, encounters massive problems with care of the baby before finding Ms. Wrong Nanny who of course turns out to be Ms. Right Number Two. Why should anyone watch this one? MY reason for watching it is that I will watch anything with Samantha Mathis in it. Why should YOU watch it? Well, it's English, very much in the style of Richard Curtis's films such as Four Weddings And A Funeral, Notting Hill and Love Actually. It even has the same gimmick of an American woman in London (Amy, the Mathis character). But while this film has her plus a very strong British supporting cast, the disappointment is at the center: The Grant in this film, Richard E., is just no match for Curtis's Grant (Hugh); or maybe he was disastrously miscast. The Curtis films, while having as many pieces as Jack and Sarah, manage somehow to put them together better, and even when those films are just sort of noodling along, the hilarious one-liners are enough to keep the viewer going until something actually happens. Jack and Sarah's script is just not up to the caliber of the Curtis films. I would like to have learned more about how Amy (the Mathis character) wound up in London, or why she was working as a waitress. I would have liked to learn more about Jack's (Grant's) job as a solicitor: As with Ally McBeal, L.A. Law and The Practice, no actual work ever seems to transpire in the office. The most implausible element is the transformation of the character William (Ian McKellen): When we first see him, he is an alcoholic bum living on the street, and the next thing you know, he is living in Jack's house in the position of a very propah butler or butler equivalent. I suspect some intervening scenes didn't make the final cut.