I’m sorry to say that Kangaroo Jack is top of my 2003 ‘worst list’ so far.
Kangaroo Jack (2003)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:110
Fresh:9
Rotten:101
Average Rating:3.3/10
Consensus: The humor is gratingly dumb, and Kangaroo Jack contains too much violence and sexual innuendo for a family movie.
Runtime: 89 mins
Genre: Comedies
US Box Office: $66,734,992
Synopsis:
Best friends Charlie Carbone [JERRY O’CONNELL] and Louis Fucci [ANTHONY ANDERSON] are both struggling to get ahead in life – but their approaches couldn’t be more different.
Louis is an eternal...
Best friends Charlie Carbone [JERRY O’CONNELL] and Louis Fucci [ANTHONY ANDERSON] are both struggling to get ahead in life – but their approaches couldn’t be more different.
Louis is an eternal optimist, which is a good thing considering he’s also a magnet for bad luck. Ever since he saved Charlie’s life 20 years ago, Louis has embroiled them in a series of shady get-rich-quick schemes, which has only compounded Charlie’s reputation as the ultimate loser in the eyes of his intimidating stepfather, mob boss Sal Maggio [CHRISTOPHER WALKEN].
More skeptical and low-profile than Louis, Charlie just wants to play by the rules, meet the right girl and make a success of his new business, which is tough with Sal skimming all the profits. But when Louis recruits Charlie to help him escort a truckload of stolen TVs across town, they inadvertently lead police straight to Sal’s warehouse, jam-packed with hot property.
Just when it looks like the guys might wind up sleeping with the fishes, Sal decides to give Charlie and his bumbling sidekick one last chance for redemption. All they have to do is deliver $50,000 cash to one of Sal’s associates in a remote outpost …the Australian Outback.
Goodbye Brooklyn, G’day Sydney!
After an adventurous plane flight and a scary brush with Customs, Charlie and Louis find themselves barrelling down a dusty road in the Aussie wilderness with the 50 grand stuffed in Louis’ lucky red jacket. Looks like things are finally starting to go their way when…THUMP! Their jeep hits a large kangaroo.
As the guys try in vain to revive the lifeless roo, they realize he resembles their buddy “Jackie Legs” back home in Brooklyn. Louis impulsively insists on dressing “Jackie” in his lucky red jacket and snapping a few photos.
Problem is…this kangaroo has a plan of his own.
Before Charlie and Louis can react, the feisty beast springs to life and bounces off across the desert at lightning speed wearing what has just become the most valuable jacket in Australia. To their horror, the kangaroo disappears into the vast scrubland, leaving them with no money, no car and no clue.
Enlisting the aid of Jessie [ESTELLA WARREN], a resourceful American wildlife conservationist, along with a drunken bush pilot and a herd of the most ill-mannered camels that ever lived, Charlie and Louis attempt to track the wily kangaroo across the dense Outback, capture him and retrieve the cash before Sal’s henchmen send them “down under”…permanently.
Starring: Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson, Christopher Walken, Estella Warren
Starring: Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson, Christopher Walken, Estella Warren, Dyan Cannon, Marton Csokas, Michael Shannon
Director: David McNally
Director: David McNally
Screenwriter: Steve Bing, Scott Rosenberg
Producer: Jerry Bruckheimer
Composer: Trevor Rabin
Studio: Warner Bros.
Reviews for Kangaroo Jack
Luckily, Australians can't take offence at the lame Aussie "you'd be a banger short of a barbie" stereotypes, because the American characters are just as puerile.
There's a lot of typical screw-ups that can be seen with Hollywood trying to portray Australia on-screen.
A ragged comedy that features much more lame slapstick action than bouncing beast.
Parents beware: this film is too crude, violent and offensive for younger viewers.
It's a thin, tedious caper only notable for its impressive Outback locations and a cameo from Christopher Walken that proves the word 'no' isn't in his vocabulary.
No one seems to have any idea whether this is an action movie, a comedy, a kid's movie or perhaps a bizarre experiment in kangaroo torture.
A competent and workmanlike action-adventure romp for kids, briefly enlivened by a funny cameo from Christopher Walken.
The movie is crap, but no more so than you'd expect from something with [i]Kangaroo Jack[/i] on the title card and Jerry Bruckheimer's name under the producer credit.
If you can imagine how painful it would be to wander aimlessly lost for days on end through the Australian outback, that's how the eighty-nine minutes of this film go by.
David McNally basically made a mob comedy, realized it wasn’t funny and then added in computer-generated shots of the kangaroo that didn’t require paying actors for reshoots.
O personagem-título aparece pouco ao longo da projeção: se somarmos todas as suas cenas, é possível que o resultado não passe de 15 minutos. E se estes 15 minutos já são ruins, imaginem os 75 minutos restantes...
Parents may find themselves growing tired of the immature undertone, but the charismatic odd couple of O¹Connell and Anderson is enough to emphasize the film¹s light-hearted feel.
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