Jack the Bear
| Jack the Bear | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Marshall Herskovitz |
| Produced by | Bruce Gilbert Peter Burrell |
| Screenplay by | Steven Zaillian |
| Based on |
Jack the Bear by Dan McCall |
| Starring | |
| Music by | James Horner |
| Cinematography | Fred Murphy |
| Edited by | Steven Rosenblum |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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Running time
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99 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $5,145,823 |
Jack the Bear is a 1993 American drama film directed by Marshall Herskovitz, written by Steven Zaillian based on the novel by Dan McCall, and starring Danny DeVito, Robert J. Steinmiller Jr., Miko Hughes, and Gary Sinise.
Jack Leary and his younger brother Dylan start over in Oakland, California in 1972 following the death their mother Elizabeth. The boys live with their father John, who entertains late-night horror film audiences as Midnight Shriek host-commentator "Al Gory." John has a drinking problem that disrupts the smooth running of the household. Some parental duties fall to Jack, who takes Dylan to his first day of preschool. One of the Learys' neighbors, a young man named Norman Strick, who walks with a cane due to a car accident as a teen, is an anti-social neo-Nazi who feels the neighborhood is going downhill.
Jack has a love affair with his classmate Karen Morris. Jack's friend and next door neighbor Dexter, who comes from a broken home with his grandparents, begins suffering a downward spiral after his grandmother died while becoming acquainted with Norman. On Halloween, having given Dexter a Nazi costume, Norman approaches John to ask for a donation for a racially prejudiced candidate. During an airing of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, a drunken John interrupts the movie and mimics the racially charged beliefs of Norman while naming the candidate.
The next day, Jack is woken when Norman's golden retriever Cheyenne dies on their front lawn from poisoning, John apologizes for his actions on television while giving his condolences despite Norman refusing to shake his hand. Backlash from John's previous actions on his show jeopardizes his job and endangers Jack's relationship with Karen. Taking out his anger on Dylan and leaving him with Dexter, Jack learns that his brother was taken by Norman. Jack calls the police as he and John are extremely worried until Dylan is found in a nearby forest a few days later and taken to the hospital, traumatized by the ordeal of being left to die in the wilderness to the point of being rendered mute.
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Wikipedia