Jacknife
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Jacknife |
| Original title | Jacknife |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1989 |
| length | 102 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | David Hugh Jones |
| script | Stephen Metcalfe |
| production |
Carol Baum , Robert Schaffel |
| music | Bruce Broughton |
| camera | Brian West |
| cut | John Bloom |
| occupation | |
| |
Jacknife (alternatively: Jacknife - Cheated by Life ) is an American drama film directed by David Hugh Jones from 1989 . Stephen Metcalfe wrote the script based on his own play.
action
Joseph Megessey, nicknamed Megs, is a Vietnam War veteran . He is traumatized by the war and has a full beard and long hair. Megs takes care of truck driver David Flannigan, who has a drinking problem and lives with his shy sister Martha, a biology teacher. Megs, David and Bobby Buckman were friends even before they went to war. Bobby died in the war when he wanted to help the wounded Megessey and David cannot cope with his death until today.
Megs and Martha soon get closer. This displeases David because he doesn't think Megs is good enough for Martha. After seeing his sister in a bar with Megs, he argues with her. She accuses him of not paying enough attention to her. After he calms down, he promises her to get better. Martha replies that he cannot give her what she needs. One evening Martha cooks for Joseph, who tries to kiss her. Since she doesn't allow him out of fear, he gets angry and smashes a window. Later, Martha invites Joseph to spend a night with her and the two become a couple.
Martha is assigned to the supervisor of a school ball in her school. She invites Joseph to accompany him, who cuts his long hair and beard and appears in a suit. The drunk David also appears and demolishes the interior of the school. Megs confronts the bleeding David and when David pushes him against the wall, Megs succeeds in getting David to face his trauma: David blames Megs for Bobby's death by believing that Bobby could have survived in the war if he had wounded Megs, who called himself "Jacknife" back then, did not help. He had also previously helped the wounded David and all three had vowed to return home together after the war and find women. Confused, David flees.
Dave comes home later, where Martha and Megs are waiting for him. Megs and David speak out and Martha and David get closer again. But now Megs can no longer handle anything. He leaves Martha, packs his things and drives away. On the drive, however, he realizes how important Martha is to him and he turns around and back to Martha. David gets his life under control again and Megs and Martha remain a happy couple.
Reviews
Roger Ebert wrote in the Chicago Sun-Times on March 24, 1989 that the film could be viewed as a sequel to The Going Through Hell . He is addressing similar issues, some camera settings would have a similar effect. The film does not offer many surprises, but it does not live from its plot, but from its characters. The portrayals of Robert De Niro, Kathy Baker and Ed Harris are appropriate to the respective characters.
Awards
Ed Harris was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1990.
background
The film was shot in Montreal and Connecticut . It grossed approximately $ 2.0 million in US cinemas .
swell
Web links
- Jacknife in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Jacknife at rotten tomatoes (English)