Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)

"What, do you think there's a lot of work down on the pier for hookers? Do you think I'm giving blow jobs down there to goldfish?"

Terry Doolittle lives an unusual life for a black woman in an 80's film. She has her own apartment, she goes to her tech job in the bank everyday where she shoots the shit with her co-workers until it is time to clock out. She is smart, funny, and despite the lack of romance in her life, things seems pretty good. She is also great with computers, and in the 1986, that's the equivalent of being a wizard.

Terry (Whoopi Goldberg; Ghost, The Color Purple) only has one problem; she tends to chat with customers via the internet, and her boss finds this unprofessional. One evening when she is about to knock off, she gets a message from the mysterious 'Jumping Jack Flash', urgently looking for her help. 'Jack' claims to be a British spy left behind in Russia, and needs her to get in touch with the embassy on his behalf. How exactly he gets hold of her is never really explained, but as I said earlier; computers = magic. The embassy denies all knowledge of the existence of any such agent, and shrug her off. Before she knows it though, CIA and international spies are on her tail, looking to find out what she knows. In between late-night flirting sessions with 'Jack' via the computer; shoot outs, dead bodies and car chases are the new norm for Terry. The bad guys are closing in and she is running out of time and trustworthy friends, but will she be able to get 'Jack' home alive and in one piece? 

Jumpin' Jack Flash is definitely a mixed bag. It was made in probably the best decade for comedy/action/thriller hybrids; films that successfully blended humour into otherwise straight played genres, and resulted in such classics as 48 hours, Lethal Weapon and Running Scared, to name but a few. Jumpin' Jack Flash does quite a few things right, namely; the comedy is funny, and the action is well handled, for the little of it there is. So what keeps it back from 'classic' status? 

My fundamental problem with the film really extends back to the script, and it's an issue we have had for decades in films; how can you make people interacting through computers interesting? So much of the core relationship (between Terry and 'Jack') hinges on these plentiful conversations; it shows us that Terry is an essentially lonely character, and male attention is something she craves, if she cares to admit it or not. But how can you show a woman flirting with an unseen character through a computer? We never get to see 'Jack' until the final scenes. Instead, the filmmakers opt to have Terry talk out loud for her part as she types, and we then eventually start to get a 'voice over' for 'Jack's replies as the film progresses. Sounds awkward, doesn't it? Poor Whoopi spends huge amounts of time talking out loud to herself in the film, and it eventually starts to just seem very strange and unfunny. These moments between Terry and 'Jack' definitely aren't intended to be humorous, so I just wish there was a better way of presenting this information to the audience. Did we need to see all of these conversations? Not really. I would have preferred if the majority of them had been dropped and they somehow brought the 'Jack' character into the film earlier than the final scene. Even as it plays out, the romantic possibilities doesn't feel 'real' anyway for me. Adding to this is the fact that even when not talking with 'Jack' via internet, Terry still talks out loud in nearly every scene that she is alone, and it became too much for me to take. Unsurprisingly, there was apparently plenty of problems during the shoot, and many re-writes were made.

Luckily enough, this isn't a deal breaker on the film. Whoopi is genuinely funny when the material works, and a lot of it does. The funniest moments are definitely the more 'R' rated dialogue scenes when she lets rip, and they take you by surprise as much of the rest of the comedy seems very 'PG'. It is a good juxtaposition, but I nearly wish they pushed the more aggressive comedy to the forefront (why not? It's an 'R' film anyway). There are moments of broader comedy that actually work, like when Terry gets dressed up to sneak into the embassy, or when she gets trapped in the phone booth during the car chase. Other scenes over stay their welcome, such as the lengthy 'truth serrum' performance. Action-wise, it is relatively light, but there are plenty of shoot outs and car chases that regularly pop up to keep you awake. Thankfully the film doesn't fall too deeply into the 'nobody believes me!' cliche-trap, and for the most part every scene pushes the film along. If only we could trim out about ten minutes of the scenes I mentioned above...

Whoopi is surrounded by some recognisable comedy faces throughout the film. Her office co-workers include; Carol Cane (The Princess Bride, Scrooged), Jon Lovitz (Big, My Stepmother is an Alien) and the sadly deceased Phil Hartman (Last Resort, Blind Date). Annie Potts (Ghostbusters, Who is Harry Crumb?) plays the wife of a deceased agent who tries to help Terry, and James Belushi (Red Heat, About Last Night...) has a rare chance at playing the bad guy. Not that he is particularly evil, but hey, it's a change. And in case you were wondering, 'Jack' is played by Jonathan Pryce (Brazil, Haunted Honeymoon). The film is directed by Penny Marshall, who had a good reputation for comedy at the time. She was just off the back of Big, when the original director was removed from Jumpin' Jack Flash. As I mentioned, she does well with the comedy scenes, but the mix with romantic drama and action could have been worked out better.

As mentioned in the opening of this review, it is unusual to see a smart, positive, educated, black leading lady in a comedy for the time period. Seeing as the film was initially pegged for Shelley Long, I'm not sure how much of that is intentional. Still, it feels fresh and different, even watching it now. Whoopi made an unusual leading lady anyway (her fashion and looks were generally downplayed) but she had plenty of charisma and dramatic hooks to get her through more than she was ever given, really. If you are looking for something light to pass an evening, you can do plenty worse than Jumpin' Jack Flash. It's no classic, but it still has a good sense of fun about it.