KANGAROO JACK
US, 2003, 90 minutes, Colour.
Jerry O' Connell, Anthony Anderson, Estella Warren, Michael Shannon, Christopher Walken, Bill Hunter, Martin Csokas.
Directed by David Mc Nally.
Kangaroos have had a bit of a hard time in the movies. They do far better in documentaries and on the Discovery Channel. Back in the 70s, there was a comedy about a boxing kangaroo with Robert Mitchum and an actor in a kangaroo suit. It was called Matilda. Kangaroo Jack is in the Matilda tradition but now we have an animatronic kangaroo - which makes him at least a little more realistic.
Who is this film aimed at. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer who is famous for his slambang action shows like Conair and Gone in Sixty Seconds (whose writer, Scott Rosenberg had a hand in this one as well) said that he thought it would entertain younger audiences. So, maybe boys aged twelve. At that level, it is corny action that passes the time. One has to add that it is geographically incorrect, giving would-be tourists a false idea that you can drive from Sydney to Alice Springs in a couple of hours.
Two Brooklyn young men are best friends. One has saved the other's life when they were boys. The Mafioso stepfather is understandably upset when a completely unnecessary car chase with maximum damage leads the police to his warehouse full of stolen goods. What to do? Send them to Australia where they can be bumped off. When they put a jacket with$50,000 in the pocket on what they think is a dead kangaroo, he leaps up and off and they spend the rest of the film chasing it (especially on camels)
1. For what audience? Adults? Children?
2. The Brooklyn settings, the 80s, contemporary? The contrast with the collage of Sydney, the Outback, the alleged Alice Springs, the desert? The flora and fauna? Kangaroos?
3. The film as farce, adventure, parody?
4. Charlie's story, the 80s, announcing the names of the central characters, his story at the end? The buddy story?
5. The beach, the ball thrown by Frankie, into the water, unable to swim, Louis saving him, Frankie looking on? His mother and her relationship with Sal, the retrospect that he should have stopped her marrying him?
6. The jobs, his being a hairdresser, Sal buying the business for him while despising it? Louis and his various scams, the truck, the television sets, the mad chase through the city and absolute mayhem? Crashing into the warehouse? The police, Charlie and Louis escaping, Sal losing four million dollars worth?
7. Sal and his summoning them, giving them the money, sending them to Australia? The irony of the money for the hetman to kill them out there?
8. The flight, the money, Customs, Louis and his comic turns with "G'day"?
9. In the Outback in no time, the discussions, trying to contact Mr Smith, hitting the kangaroo, thinking he looked like Jack ..... , putting the jacket on him, the photos, his running away, with the money in his pocket? The desperate situation?
10. Charlie and Louis as characters, types, buddies (especially Charlie saving Louis from the cliff at the end and the discussions about best friends)? In Alice Springs, the phone calls, desperate, finding the drunken pilot, crashing, Jessie and the camels, the promise of money, the farce with the camels? The killer, his pursuit, Frankie and co arriving in Australia, their pursuit? The escape, the lyrical moments at the waterfall, the chase, Louis getting the jacket and the money at the edge of the cliff? The helicopter coming up and the police?
11. Sal and Christopher Walken's comic style, the ironies? Frankie and the New York gangsters in Australia, loathing it?
12. The Australians: the killer and his lack of sense of humour, intense, pursuing them, caught? Bill Hunter as the alcoholic pilot, being tossed out of the car? The Aboriginal guide - and his telling the truth about the kangaroo and being tossed out of the car?
13. Jessie, being in Australia, concerned about the animals, the tough type, confrontations with Charlie, the kiss in the waterfall, the toiletries - and the prosperous and happy ending?
