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Movies / On DVD / Kangaroo Jack
Kangaroo Jack

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Kangaroo Jack (2003)

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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

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. [More]

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.

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Reviews for Kangaroo Jack

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1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | 1 2 3 4 5 6 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Brainless and inane, this is for undemanding kids only.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
12/30/06
Danny Graydon
Danny Graydon
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Parents beware: this film is too crude, violent and offensive for younger viewers.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
06/24/06
Geoff Andrew
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

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.

Full Review Source: UK Critic | comment Comment
07/06/03
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
Ian Waldron-Mantgani
UK Critic

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.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
11/02/04
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Tie this kangaroo down, sport -- before he makes a sequel.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
04/15/03
Neil Smith
Neil Smith
ViewLondon
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A competent and workmanlike action-adventure romp for kids, briefly enlivened by a funny cameo from Christopher Walken.

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
07/08/03
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Does anyone really think lame scripts like this make good movies?

Full Review Source: Shadows on the Wall | comment Comment
03/21/03
Rich Cline
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall

The tykes might laugh in the right places, but this is still horribly formulaic, the humor's dopey and the CGI-animated kangaroo outacts the real people.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
01/17/03
E! Online

There is something crass and ugly about the way Kangaroo Jack develops its hackneyed, potentially amusing premise.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
01/16/03
A.O. Scott
A.O. Scott
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Suffers from a dreary type of adolescence, missing the spirit of adventure or joy of a good children's film and lacking the comic sophistication necessary to make it interesting for grown ups.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/16/03
Aaron Lazenby
Aaron Lazenby
Filmcritic.com

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.

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
04/18/03
Alexa Moses
Alexa Moses
Sydney Morning Herald

Most people are willing to put up with a bad movie for their kids. But Kangaroo Jack doesn't even manage to hold the attention of easy-to-please youngsters.

Full Review Source: Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah) | comment Comment
01/16/03
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Audrey Rock-Richardson
Tooele Transcript-Bulletin (Utah)

Likable but negligible.

Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | comment Comment
03/05/07
Bill Stamets
Bill Stamets
Chicago Reader

The kids might love it, and any chance to soak up Australian beauty is welcomed, but there just isn’t enough hop in the ’roo to hold appeal for very long.

Full Review Source: Modamag.com | comment Comment
01/24/03
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
Modamag.com

One of the most ill-thought-out cinematic exercises in a very, very long time.

Full Review Source: Apollo Guide | comment Comment
01/15/03
Brian Webster
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide

Computer effects have reduced a magnificent animal to a cartoon comic foil with human expressions and a yen for red licorice.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
01/17/03
Carla Meyer
Carla Meyer
San Francisco Chronicle

There's more chemistry going on in moldy cheese than between Jerry O'Connell and Anthony Anderson.

Full Review Source: TheMovieChicks.com | comment Comment
01/17/03
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
Cherryl Dawson and Leigh Ann Palone
TheMovieChicks.com

The worst Aussie export since vegemite.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
01/16/03
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

Just right for preadolescent and young teen males who find the idea of animals passing gas hilarious.

Full Review Source: Miami Herald | comment Comment
01/16/03
Christine Dolen
Christine Dolen
Miami Herald

“You better run, you better take cover”, is how the song Down Under by Men at Work goes, and it’s quite a fitting beginning – or pre-warning

Full Review Source: Moviehole | comment Comment
02/14/03
Clint Morris
Clint Morris
Moviehole
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by rotten rating; UK critics are listed first)
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