Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)

Disappointing 80s comedy considering the talent involved. Whoopi Goldberg is contacted over a computer and finds herself helping a British spy in this comic action thriller that if it were a better film could have been a modern day "North by Northwest" or even a fun contemporary like "The Man with One Red Shoe," but instead it's a dull story that's only made watchable by a talented cast. That cast includes Jonathan Pryce, Jon Lovitz, Phil Hartman, Michael McKean, Jim Belushi, Paxton Whitehead, Tracey Ullman, Garry Marshall, Carol Kane (looking the most normal and most conventionally attractive I've ever seen her), Annie Potts, Roscoe Lee Browne, Jeroen Krabbé, Jamey Sheridan, Stephen Collins, and John Wood (you know, Falken from 'WarGames"). To top off the disappointment factor, this was the directorial debut of Penny Marshall, who'd go on to direct classics like "Big," "A League of Their Own," and "Awakenings." And there's even a nicely 80s score by Thomas Newman. This talent manages to make this dull and unfunny script watchable, but just barely (and the script was by several talented writers who's credits include "Die Hard," "48 Hrs," "The Larry Sanders Show", "Private Benjamin," "Father of the Bride," and even "Gladiator" and "Amistad." Who knows what happened to this movie?

The pre-internet online communications in "Jumpin' Jack Flash" might be the main thing that interests you, but you should watch the movie for much more than that. Having established herself as a serious actress in "The Color Purple", Whoopi Goldberg plays a sassy bank employee who inadvertently gets herself involved in international espionage.The funniest scenes are when Goldberg gets herself worked up into a frenzy and starts verbally tearing people a new one. Along with the scene in the British consulate. Penny Marshall's directorial debut is basically an excuse for Goldberg to be as nutty as possible. In some scenes she has a little help, as in the phone booth scene. It's just a funny movie, and I suspect that they had a lot of fun filming it. Also starring Stephen Collins, Jonathan Pryce, John Wood (Prof. Falken in "WarGames"), Jeroen Krabbé, Jim Belushi, Carol Kane, Jon Lovitz, Phil Hartman, Annie Potts (Janeane in "Ghostbusters" and Bo Peep in "Toy Story"), Tracey Ullman and Michael McKean.A sad irony is that I'm reviewing this on September 11, and the movie opens with a shot of the Twin Towers.

I enjoyed this film when it was first released so on seeing the DVD in a charity shop it was an easy decision to part with a few coins, however age has not been kind to this movie.The sleeve describes the film as a suspenseful, fast-paced and murderously funny comedy. Unfortunately it is nothing of the sort. It is completely unfunny, repetitive and laboured. The acting is wooden by all the players and particularly by Whoopi Goldberg.If you enjoyed this film first time round, keep it as a happy memory, don't revisit or like me you will be sorely disappointed and wonder why you wasted an evening.

Poorly scripted film where heroine Whoopi Goldberg works diligently on her computer at a bank only to get involved with spies when her computer connects with them.Carol Kane is totally wasted in a small role as an office worker. Miss Kane, who has the ability to be hilarious with that foolish Brooklyn accent, would have been far better had she been allowed to appear in the caper scenes. As for Stephen Collins, he appears in so many important scenes that it's just a simple matter to figure out if he is with the good guys or bad guys.The scenes where Goldberg's dress is caught in a shredding machine and where she is locked inside a moving telephone booth could have been hilarious but end too quickly. Another scene at the British embassy is also wasted.This apparent spoof of spy movies just doesn't cut it.