Jack and Sarah (1996)

In a split second, Jack's (Grant) seemingly perfect world comes crashing down around him when his wife dies in childbirth. Suddenly faced with this tragic loss and the demands of single parenthood to his baby girl, Sarah, Jack spontaneously hires a beautiful young American waitress named Amy (Mathis) as a nanny. But Amy, who is unqualified, inexperienced and unsuitable for the job, only complicates matters further when Jack finds himself falling for her! With his overprotective mother (Dench), drunkard housekeeper (McKellen) and romantically interested boss (Cherie Lunghi) all attempting to intervene, can this tidy British widower and his decidedly undomestic domestic find love against all the odds?

Jack and Sarah

Its a great movie if you really like drama and real life. This kind of story happens in real life. Every year a mother dies giving birth and is not easy for a man that has never been a dad before to overcome this kind of situations. May 31, 2007

DELIGHTFUL

I HAD SEEN THIS MOVIE YEARS AGO AND THOUGHT ALONG WITH THE TRAGEDY OF LIFE THERE CAN BE EVENTUALLY SOME HAPPINESS AND A NEW LIFE. January 4, 2007

strictly for fans

Why does this movie not work? Let me count the ways. First, the movie opens with ten minutes of slapstick, fairly decent slapstick. Then, the slapstick is jettisoned, never to return, and the movie is serious from there on.

The wife dies--off camera, of course--but that's okay, because we can't feel much for her anyway, since we never saw the couple together in a serious or sincere way. We only saw slapstick.

The character then goes running through the hospital. This strange behavior is followed by some clichéd behavior: throwing furniture around, etc. This behavior, I suppose, is to let us know that this character is infantile but is going to improve as the movie wears on. He then rejects his baby. Okay, we've all seen "A Christmas Carol," so it's credible, Scrooge's father does this. But the screenwriter didn't bother to ask himself whether we really want to see a movie about Scrooge's father.

When the nanny enters the picture, it begins to have moments that are promising, but these are always dashed by some off-putting behavior or other on the part of the father. He is shown coming to like his baby, but then unaccountably he spends day and evening away from her. What are we supposed to make of this?

Richard Grant plays this character, I suppose, as the script dictates, as a kind of screwed-up guy who hasn't a clue and who keeps changing "color" from one scene to the next. So, the "happy" ending leaves one with a shrug.

Oh, and there are two musical interludes during which the movie stops for several minutes to let us listen to the selection the writer-director has chosen for us. Trouble is, the chosen music will not be to everyone's taste. Extremely so, in my case.

Bottom line: See this movie only if you really, REALLY like one or another of the cast. September 27, 2006

A VERY TOUCHING AND SWEET STORY!!

JACK AND SARAH FEATURES GREAT ACTING AND A VERY SWEET STORY!!
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED! THIS IS A TRULY BEAUTIFUL MOVIE!!
FEATURING THE BEAUTIFUL SAMANTHA MATHIS!! July 19, 2006

Jack and Sarah

A wonderful film staring two very underrated actors. Good for a sunday afternoon. February 25, 2006

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