ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996              TAG: 9608120121
SECTION: EXTRA                    PAGE: 10   EDITION: METRO 
                                             TYPE: MOVIE REVIEW
SOURCE: MIKE MAYO CORRESPONDENT

EVEN WITH COPPOLA'S TOUCH, THE CHEMISTRY JUST ISN'T THERE

"Jack" is not the complete disaster that many expected.

It's still a flawed film, preachy and falsely sentimental. But even at his worst, director Francis Ford Coppola is more interesting than 90 percent of his peers. If only he'd chosen material better suited to his considerable talents.

This time, he's telling a half-baked story about one of those mysterious diseases that exist only in Hollywood movies. Jack (Robin Williams) is a normal 10 year old who's aging at four times the normal rate. His parents (Diane Lane and Brian Kerwin) have sheltered him with all the toys a kid could want and a private tutor (Bill Cosby).

Jack arrives for his first day in the fifth grade as the biggest kid in school.

Will he fit in, or will the other children ostracize their oversized classmate? As expected, Williams gets a lot of laughs out of the physical side of a 10 year old: the squirming, the energy, the restless hands. And writers James DeMonaco and Gary Nadeau are fairly accurate with the emotional temperament of children. The young actors in the supporting cast are excellent.

Two problems loom large. First, Coppola tries to steer the story between goofy bathroom humor and serious pathos, and neither seems particularly genuine. Second, the film mopes along at a leaden pace, as if Coppola were trying to invest this frivolous stuff with deep meaning. It's simply not there.

If Chris Columbus or John Hughes had made this film, it might have been turned into slick superficial entertainment along the lines of "Mrs. Doubtfire" or "Home Alone." Coppola doesn't make that kind of movie, and even though this one has all the elements for a box-office hit, the chemistry just isn't right.

Jack

**

A Hollywood Pictures release playing at the Salem Valley 8 and Tanglewood

LENGTH: Short :   47 lines
ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO:  Robin Williams plays "Jack," a 10-year-old boy who grows
          four times faster than normal. color.