Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Jumpin’ Jack Flash looks suspiciously like the sort of project that begins life as an innocent-enough idea, then becomes more and more unrecognizable as it is tailored for the talents of a particular star.

In this case, the star is Whoopi Goldberg, the gifted actress/comedian whose profane stage show set Broadway on its ear and whose first starring film was The Color Purple. Since Jumpin’ Jack Flash is clearly a vehicle for Whoopi, it has been necessary to gear the plot to her specific style.

The script of JJJ (and it’s credited to four writers, always a bad sign) carries a plot-heavy story about a lonely computer worker who gets mixed up in international espionage. Goldberg would have been better off ditching this absurd premise and building a film out of her own funky material.

Instead, the dictates of plot carry her away from any fruitful comic possibilities. She’s a computer operator who starts getting mysterious messages across her screen. Seems an English secret agent is trapped in Eastern Europe, and his only hope for escaping is by linking up with an outsider who can pull a few strings for him.

This sets off some sitcom problems: Whoopi crashes a party for the Queen at the British Embassy; Whoopi meets an odd Dutch agent on the docks of New York; Whoopi gets stuck in a phone booth and is dragged through Manhattan. The working sensibility here seems to be an unfunny Get Smart crossed with I Love Lucy.

Presumably this comedic approach comes mainly from director Penny Marshall, who used to play Laverne on Laverne and Shirley. Marshall actually resorts to having Goldberg’s dress get caught in a paper-shredder for laughs.

I can think of only one, original comic scene: Goldberg trying to decipher the lyrics of the Rolling Stones (“Jumpin’ Jack Flash” is a clue, you see). They’re impossible—“Mick! Speak English!” she yells—but there are some interesting interpretations. “Born in a crossfire hurricane” becomes “Bored by a column by Herb Caen.”

Elsewhere, however, Marshall does show directorial spark, especially in some of the opening scenes of the bank where Goldberg works, and in her interplay with her fellow workers (some of whom are played by Carol Kane, Stephen Collins, and Jon Lovitz). This is funny, natural stuff. Had the film focused on these people rather than the mechanics of plot, Jumpin’ Jack Flash might have turned toward a truer kind of comedy, which seems to be Goldberg’s forte anyway.

Instead it’s mostly a drag. It’s certainly a disappointment for someone of Goldberg’s promise. She deserves a project now that’s going to really free her up. When that happens, jump back.

First published in The Herald, October 10, 1986

I recall one thing from this film: Carol Kane delivering the words “Well, shit,” in such a way that you are sure no one has ever said them before. Anyway, this was Marshall’s first feature film as director, after Howard Zieff was fired; the screenwriters included Nancy Meyers and Charles Shyer (pseudonymously) and, allegedly, at some stage of development, Richard Price. The cast includes Jeroen Krabbe, Annie Potts, Jonathan Pryce, Tracey Ullman, Michael McKean, and Phil Hartman.