Kangaroo Jack

''Kangaroo Jack'' is a 2003 American buddy action comedy film directed by David McNally from a screenplay by Steve Bing and Scott Rosenberg with a story by Bing and Barry O'Brien. It is also produced by Jerry Bruckheimer with music by Trevor Rabin. The film tells the story of two childhood friends who get caught up with the mob and are forced to deliver $50,000 to Australia, but things go haywire when the money is lost to a wild kangaroo. It stars Jerry O'Connell, Anthony Anderson, Estella Warren, Michael Shannon, and Christopher Walken, with Adam Garcia as the uncredited voice of the titular character.

Originally conceived as an R-rated mob comedy entitled ''Down and Under'', negative test screenings led Bruckheimer to retool the film into a PG-rated film, heavily re-editing the film and adding scenes of an anthropomorphic kangaroo.

''Kangaroo Jack'' was released in the United States on January 17, 2003, by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film was strongly panned by critics, who criticized the screenplay, humor, violence, and innuendoes, as well as its false advertising as a family film with the kangaroo in a significant speaking role, although the visuals and soundtrack were praised. It grossed $88.1 million worldwide on a $60 million budget.

An animated sequel titled '' Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!'' was produced and released direct-to-video in 2004.

Plot

In 1982 Brooklyn, a boy named Charlie Carbone is about to become the stepson of crime boss Salvatore Maggio. The mobster's apprentice Frankie Lombardo tries to drown Charlie, but a boy named Louis Booker saves him, and they become best friends.

Twenty years later, Charlie operates a beauty salon set up by Sal, whose henchmen take 80% of the profits, barely leaving Charlie enough money for maintenance. After Charlie and Louis botch hiding some stolen TVs, which leads to the discovery of Sal's warehouse by the police, Sal gives them one more chance. Under instructions from Frankie, they are to deliver a package to a man named Mr. Smith in Coober Pedy, Australia. Frankie also warns them against opening the package, and provides them with Mr. Smith's number. Unknown to the duo, Sal has cancelled their return trip. Louis opens the package on the plane and finds $50,000 cash.

Arriving in Australia, Charlie and Louis drive to Coober Pedy. Along their way, they accidentally run over a red kangaroo. Louis thinks it is dead and calls the kangaroo “Jackie Legs”, after their friend from Canarsie. Louis even puts his “lucky” jacket and sunglasses on the kangaroo, posing for photographs as a joke. The kangaroo suddenly regains consciousness, kicks Charlie, and hops away with the $50,000 in the jacket. Charlie and Louis give chase but crash their rental car, and the kangaroo escapes.

At a pub in Alice Springs, Louis calls Mr. Smith, who thinks he and Charlie stole his package and threatens to kill them by feeding them to the crocodiles. Back in New York, Sal gets a call from Smith complaining that Charlie and Louis have not arrived, then sends Frankie and some henchmen to Australia to investigate. Meanwhile, Charlie and Louis attempt to reclaim the money from the kangaroo by shooting it with a tranquilizer from a plane. The attempt fails when Louis accidentally shoots Blue, the pilot, causing the plane to crash and stranding the duo in the desert. They spend hours wandering in the desert, during which the duo encounter a pack of hungry dingoes and a sand storm, and Charlie hallucinates finding a jeep, and they soon meet Jessie, an American woman from the Outback Wildlife Foundation. Charlie, thinking she is a mirage, grabs her breasts and she knocks him out. Charlie then has a nightmare with a speaking and rapping version of the kangaroo, plus two other kangaroos possessing Sal and Louis's voices, who taunt him by calling him "Chicken Blood" repeatedly.

The following day, the three track Jackie Legs to the Todd River, attempting to catch the animal with bolas, but Louis accidentally botches their attempt when he panics after ants crawl up his pants. While waiting for the next opportunity to catch the kangaroo, Charlie begins developing feelings for Jessie. At the crack of dawn the following day, Smith and his henchmen shortly arrive, after following their camel tracks, and capture the trio. Charlie and Louis outsmart them, but find Frankie has tracked them down and is prepared to kill them. Jackie Legs suddenly returns, causing a fist fight between Smith's henchmen and Frankie's crew, who outmatch them. The distraction allows Charlie, Louis and Jessie to escape. The duo chases after the kangaroo while being pursued by Frankie and his goons. Louis finally retrieves the money from the kangaroo, and Charlie narrowly saves him from falling off a cliff. Charlie tries to hand the money to Frankie, who angrily declines and reveals that Sal sent them to Australia to pay for their own execution at the hands of Smith. As he is about to shoot Charlie, the Australian Federal Police force, led by a cop working undercover as an Outback guide, arrives and arrests Frankie, Smith, and their henchmen. Charlie reclaims Louis's jacket from the kangaroo.

One year later, Charlie and Jessie are married and have used Sal's $50,000 to start a line of new hair care products bearing a kangaroo logo, along with Louis. Frankie and his goons have been imprisoned for life while Sal tried using his high level connections to avoid going to prison; this failed, and he is now awaiting trial. Jackie Legs, now called "Kangaroo Jack", continues to live happily in the Outback. Now able to speak again, Jackie breaks the fourth wall, explaining why the film should end with him since the title of the movie is named after him, and finally closes it with his version of Porky Pig's famous catchphrase: "That's all, blokes!"

Cast

* Jerry O'Connell as Charlie Carbone, the owner of a beauty salon.
** Robert Reid as young Charlie Carbone
* Anthony Anderson as Louis Booker, Charlie's best friend. Anderson also voices his kangaroo counterpart in Charlie's nightmare.
** Shawn Smith as young Louis Booker
* Estella Warren as Jessie, a member of the Outback Wildlife Foundation who helps Charlie and Louis and later becomes Charlie's wife.
* Christopher Walken as Sal Maggio, a mobster and Charlie's stepfather. Walken also voices his kangaroo counterpart in Charlie's nightmare.
* Dyan Cannon as Anna Carbone, Charlie's mother
* Michael Shannon as Frankie Lombardo, Sal's apprentice
** Brian Casey as young Frankie Lombardo
* Adam Garcia as Kangaroo Jack / "Jackie Legs" (voice, uncredited), a red kangaroo on whom Louis puts his "lucky jacket".
* Marton Csokas as Mr. Smith, the intended recipient of Charlie and Louis's $50,000 package.
* Bill Hunter as Blue, a pilot whom Charlie and Louis enlist to help catch Jack.
* Tony Nikolakopoulos as Sal's Capo, an unnamed caporegime who works for Sal.
* David Ngoombujarra as Sergeant Jimmy Inkamale, an Australian Police officer who works undercover.
* Christopher James Baker as Crumble
* Damien Fotiou as Baby J
* Denise Roberts as Tansy
* Lara Cox as Cute Girl On Plane
* Frank Welker as Special Vocal Effects
* Helen Thomson as TV announcer
* Mario Di Ienno as Tommy

Production

Initially ''Kangaroo Jack'' was titled ''Down and Under'' and was shot as a mob comedy in the style of ''Midnight Run''. The film was initially set up at the Disney label Hollywood Pictures, but Disney placed it into turnaround and instead the film was set up at Castle Rock Entertainment. The film began shooting in Australia in August 2001, lasting about six months in total, and originally included profanity, sex, and violence, intended to be released with an R-rating. According to actor Jerry O'Connell, he filmed a full-frontal nude scene for the film. However, the film's producers were dissatisfied by the first rough cut.

Inspired by positive response to the kangaroo scene in early test screenings, as well as the marketing campaign behind the recently released '' Snow Dogs'', the production shifted the marketing focus away from that of a dark mafia comedy to that of a family-friendly animal picture. Extensive new footage that replaced the animatronic kangaroo with a new CGI one that rapped (voiced by an uncredited Adam Garcia) was shot, and the film was edited down to a PG-rated family animal comedy. Among the changes, repeated utterances of "chickenshit" were redubbed with "chicken blood".

Release

Theatrical release

''Kangaroo Jack'' was theatrically released on January 17, 2003, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Home media

''Kangaroo Jack'' was released on DVD and VHS on June 24, 2003, by Warner Home Video.

Reception

Box office

''Kangaroo Jack'' was released on January 17, 2003 and ranked No. 1 that weekend. It grossed $66,934,963 at the North American domestic box office and $21,994,148 internationally for a worldwide total of $88,929,111.

Critical response

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.

Joe McGovern in ''The Village Voice'' described ''Kangaroo Jack'' as "witless" and stated "The colorless script...seems to have written itself from a patchwork of Wile E. Coyote cartoons, camel farts, and every high-pitched Aussie cliché to have echoed on these shores". Nathan Rabin, reviewing the film for ''The A.V. Club'', criticized the false advertising that the kangaroo would have a major role in the story and speak throughout, remarking, "''Kangaroo Jack''s premise, trailer, and commercials promise little more than the spectacle of two enthusiastic actors being kicked over and over again by a sassy, computer-animated kangaroo—and, sadly, the film fails to deliver even that." Gary Slaymaker in the British newspaper '' The Western Mail'' wrote "''Kangaroo Jack'' is the most witless, pointless, charmless drivel unleashed on an unsuspecting public".

Awards and nominations

For their performances, Anthony Anderson and Christopher Walken were both nominated for Worst Supporting Actor at the 24th Golden Raspberry Awards, but they lost to Sylvester Stallone for '' Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over''. The Australian
newspaper ''The Age'' included ''Kangaroo Jack'' on its list of "worst films ever made".Lawrie Zion, "Home Movies". The Age, September 11, 2003. (p.7) However, the film won the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Fart in a Movie (Anthony Anderson).

Soundtrack

The soundtrack was released by Hip-O Records on January 14, 2003.
# DJ Ötzi – " Hey Baby"
# Sugababes – " Round Round"
# Soft Cell – "Tainted Love"
# Lucia – "So Clever"
# Paulina Rubio – " Casanova"
# Shaggy – " Hey Sexy Lady"
# Shawn Desman – "Spread My Wings"
# Lil' Romeo – " 2-Way"
# The Wiseguys – " Start the Commotion"
# The Sugarhill Gang – "Rapper's Delight"
# Colin Hay – " Down Under"
# The Dude – "Rock Da Juice"

Animated sequel

The animated sequel '' Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.!'' was released direct-to-video on November 16, 2004.

References

External links

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{{Jerry Bruckheimer

2003 films
2003 action comedy films
2003 children's films
2000s adventure comedy films
2000s American films
2000s buddy comedy films
2000s children's comedy films
2000s English-language films
Films set in 1982
Films set in 2002
Films set in 2003
African-American comedy films
American action comedy films
American children's comedy films
American films about revenge
American films with live action and animation
Castle Rock Entertainment films
English-language action comedy films
Films about kangaroos and wallabies
Films about talking animals
Films produced by Jerry Bruckheimer
Films scored by Trevor Rabin
Films set in New York City
Films set in the Northern Territory
Films set in South Australia
Films set on airplanes
Films shot in New South Wales
Films shot in New York City
Films shot in the Northern Territory
Films shot in South Australia
Films shot in Sydney
Films with screenplays by Scott Rosenberg
Jerry Bruckheimer Films films
Warner Bros. films