Jack the Bear

1993 Directed by Marshall Herskovitz

Laugh. Cry. Hold on tight.

Story of the relationships between two sons and their father, who moves the family to California and becomes a tv horror show host after the death of his wife.

Danny DeVito Gary Sinise Julia Louis-Dreyfus Reese Witherspoon Robert J. Steinmiller Jr. Miko Hughes Art LaFleur Stefan Gierasch Erica Yohn Andrea Marcovicci Bert Remsen Carl Gabriel Yorke Jahary Bennett Douglas Tolbert Kelly Connell

Alternative Titles

Mein Vater, mein Freund, Jack der Bär, My Dad - Ein ganz unglaublicher Vater

comedy drama

99 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Dawson Joyce ★★½

July 2017: Flounder’s Scavenger Hunt #6
TASK #11: A film that feels like two different films mixed into one!
Starting off as a simple slice of life drama but then randomly deciding to turn into a serious thriller during the last third, Jack the Bear wants to be a film that tackles both the idyllic and dark parts of childhood and coming of age but it fails to do so in a way that feels organic and not episodic.
Review by Superargo ★★½ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

really wanted to like this goddamn thing. it’s well-performed, intelligent, its heart is in the right place, etc. but holy god does it frigging pile on the gloom, despair, agony, deep dark depression, and excessive misery. there’s dead moms, drunk dads, unemployed dads, kids getting taken away from their dads, dead dogs, killer dogs, toxic marital spats, teenage breakups, kids fighting, kids running away, kids getting kidnapped, neighbors who are goddamn fucking Nazis. endless frigging suffering. the characters cry all the time. it’s dizzying. the last half hour especially is like a litmus test in how much angst you can willfully endure in one sitting. also after a certain point you start to realize DeVito’s character just kinda sucks.
other than that, though, it’s fine.
Review by Mr. Jackpots ★★

That poster though
Review by Pube ★★★

Danny DeVito is one of the best actors around, but he’s odd and short so nobody takes him seriously. They should.
Review by Special Agent Cooper ★½

From Bearably Mediocre to Unbearably Ridiculous in 40 Minutes Flat.
Honestly, it's hard to properly critique this movie without giving away major plot elements. I'll just say for about 40 minutes, it feels like a mediocre yet watchable coming of age family drama. After that, we're given some increasingly terrible and poorly thought out plot elements that seem so unnecessary and out of left field that it not only sends the viewer into tonal shock, but completely derails the positive momentum that the film was slowly starting to build.
Jack the Bear is mostly about young Jack's experiences growing up with his brother and his father, who is a late-night horror TV host. The movie sets up as a nice…
Review by Tim Sanders ★★★

On the surface it would seem that "Jack the Bear" is a simple coming-of-age movie, similar to a hundred others just like it. The truth of the matter is, however, something much different than that, as there are some seriously sinister undercurrents bubbling just under the surface of the idyllic and carefree life depicted here.
In the film's second half they rise uncomfortably to the surface and I'm still not sure what to think. I vastly enjoyed the first half of the picture, a sweet and perfectly realized slice-of-life picture about first loves and the awkwardness that comes from always being the new kid on the block.
Danny DeVito settles into a rare role as a family man and loving…
Review by Horror Nerd in a Flannel 🎃 ★★★★ 3

-I moved across the street from a goddamn nazi.
Gotta say that this is def one of Devito's best roles. Miko Hughes was adorable in this, despite that the fact I kept remembering him as Gage. All in all, a real drama gem from the early 90s
Review by Jason ★★★½

An impressive dramatic performance from Danny DeVito as a widowed father of two boys in this touching coming of age drama.
Review by Joanne Holly ★★★½

Exactly what I needed today. What happened to Miko Hughes's career after the nineties? He was awesome in every single one of those kid roles he played including in Pet Sematary, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Full House and so many more. Jack the Bear must have been shelved for years, because the ages of child actors were at least 3 years off from how old their characters were, Reese Witherspoon would have been 16 in 1992, but looked 13 in the film, and Miko was 3.5 in the film, but would have been 6 in '92.
$\Loom/$

Review by \Loom/ ★★½

Jack the Bear is pretty much the family movie from hell. Dead-end human misery and mayhem mixed uneasily with suburban warfare. Unpleasant material with a lot of ugly heartbreak. Definitely a strong picture to get the tearducts working again. My qualm, though, is that I'm not sure what the ultimate point of it all is. The picture is based on a book, which I hear is quite good, and I'm getting the sense that the message might have been lost in translation somewhere. Either that, or I just missed the meaning entirely. Very likely, considering that I was blowing my nose and wiping my tears throughout much of it. DeVito is a sick, depraved artist who has only grown more demented since this picture. I hope he never changes. The day that he passes will be a very sad day indeed.
Review by Josh Keefe ★½

Fun fact: I saw this film multiple times on HBO as a 7 year old child. This movie has a neo nazi neighbor who kidnaps Danny Devitos son. That's all I remember.
Review by scope240

Jack The Bear
The 25th Anniversary
Aron’s Now This Is Entertainment presents: The Film Rewind Series. I take you back in time to 1993 to reminisce and celebrate it’s 25th Anniversary in what is the best and most compelling performance of Danny Devito’s career in “Jack The Bear”.
Whether your reading or watching “Jack The Bear”. The themes are of fear, grief, anger, self-doubt, and unfaced terror these are materials which monsters build up inside of us. Eventually we must come face to face with these monsters. Dan McCall's 1974 novel of the same name expertly lays out these themes in a riveting drama turned thriller. Legendary screenwriter Steve Zaillian (“Awakenings”, “Schindler’s List”, “Clear and Present Danger”, “Mission Impossible”, “Hannibal”…

Recent reviews

Review by Ollie Peters ★★★★

I have recently been trying to watch as many Danny Devito films as I can as he is becoming one of my favourite actors and wanted to check this out as it seemed like a more dramatic role for him. This was probably Devitos best performance of the films I have seen him in and this follows two young boys whose mother has recently passed away and their father moves them to LA so he can become a late night horror tv show host. This is actually quite a bit darker than I thought it would be and is only a 12 but I think it should have been a 15 because there were some dark themes in here not suitable for children. I would definitely reccomend this especially if like me you like Danny Devito.
Review by bcbobby12 ★★

Viewed in 1993. Tender and bittersweet story of a father dealing with two young sons after the death of their mother.
Review by John Constantine ★★★

A mostly good coming-of-age story with Danny DeVito in fine form as the alcoholic father to two boys who have just lost their mother. The truly bizarre subplot involving a neo-Nazi who lives next door to the family is an endurance test. But the relationship between DeVito and his older son is the heart of the movie and what makes it worth watching.
Review by Jared Queen ★★★

My parents bought a Korean dvd of this movie. It’s not very good (the voiceover narration is groan-worthy hall of fame). The toughest part of watching this was not being able to say Gary Sinise looks hot, because it would make my dad uncomfortable, plus Gary Sinise turns out to be a literal Nazi. Danny DeVito is the most lovable person on the planet.
Review by Jason ★★★½

An impressive dramatic performance from Danny DeVito as a widowed father of two boys in this touching coming of age drama.
Review by Gary Joyce ★★½

This is a family coming of age movie that takes a dark turn. Its watchable enough mainly die to Danny Devito giving a strong acting performance.
Review by scoppola ★★★

Wait a minute... hold up... what did I just watch? I thought coming into this film it was going to be a lighthearted coming of age film... but entirely unexpectedly I think I found one of the darkest children films ever to be made. This film deals with some insanely taboo and controversial topics in a very explicit manner.
See look, the first half of the film was tonally akin to The Squid and the Whale, essentially showing a tender and soft spoken story about 2 young boys coming to terms with the death of their mother whilst simultaneously adjusting to a new neighborhood. The father is going through his own crisis, and though he’s trying his best to be…
Review by Superargo ★★½ 4

This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

really wanted to like this goddamn thing. it’s well-performed, intelligent, its heart is in the right place, etc. but holy god does it frigging pile on the gloom, despair, agony, deep dark depression, and excessive misery. there’s dead moms, drunk dads, unemployed dads, kids getting taken away from their dads, dead dogs, killer dogs, toxic marital spats, teenage breakups, kids fighting, kids running away, kids getting kidnapped, neighbors who are goddamn fucking Nazis. endless frigging suffering. the characters cry all the time. it’s dizzying. the last half hour especially is like a litmus test in how much angst you can willfully endure in one sitting. also after a certain point you start to realize DeVito’s character just kinda sucks.
other than that, though, it’s fine.
Review by Jarkova Witness ★½

Had Danny DeVito Said I’m The Trash man It Would’ve Been Funnier But Him Saying The Words Nigga & Fuck Makes This Film An unintentional Comedy Instead Of A Coming Of Age thriller type film.
Review by Mike I. (Charles Dexter Ward) ★★★★

I had to special order this from somewhere in Asia and the cheapest copy was $30 and it took three weeks to arrive, the majority of the American versions were at least $120 (or around that). No wonder why this film is so rare and so seldom spoke about and mentioned; I’m sure the film company wanted to try and quiet the existence of this magnificent picture. Many folks will watch this and feel it’s telegraphed and heavy-handed with the emotions and yeah I get that, but if you realize this is a children’s film that ending up being for adults (essentially), you might enjoy it and appreciate where it goes and what it attempts.
As a teenager that just…
Review by Vince Abbate ★★

D
Review by Bash ★★½

5/10