Jacknife Movie
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Storyline
TAGLINES
Three buddies in Vietnam. Two survived. Only one is really alive.
A conflict develops between a troubled Vietnam veteran and the sister he lives with when she becomes involved romantically with the army buddy who reminds him of the tragic battle they both survived.
| Robert De Niro | Joseph 'Jacknife' Megessey |
| Kathy Baker | Martha Flannigan |
| Ed Harris | David 'High School' Flannigan |
| Sloane Shelton | Shirley |
| Ivar Brogger | Depot Mechanic |
| Michael Arkin | Dispatcher |
| Tom Isbell | Bobby 'Red Sox' Buckman |
| Kirk Taylor | Helicopter Gunner |
| Jordan Lund | Tiny |
| Charles S. Dutton | Jake, Veteran Encounter Group Leader |
| Bruce Ramsay | Corridor Student |
| Jessalyn Gilsig | His Girlfriend |
| George Gerdes | Tony |
| Josh Pais | Rick |
| Lois Dellar | Cocktail Waitress |
| David Hugh Jones |
6.30 out of 10 (1277 votes)
Visitor Reviews
It touched home with me.
posted on 04 Oct 2008It really is worth watching because of all the different characters in it.You can get something from each one. I've seen it 6/7 times and have not tired of it yet. It touches home with me because I was in the military at that time and know of the problems of the returning vet. If you weren't there,maybe this will help you to understand the ones that were.I'm still looking for that perfect woman that Ed Harris talks about. Watch it with your favorite girl and maybe you will find out that you have found her. Who says that Kathy Baker is not beautiful? Her inner beauty just glows here along with a girl next door kind of looks.I still say that De Nero is the best and this only shows it more. I'm only sorry that this is not yet available in my region in DVD and don't really know why.Those of you in regions that have it in DVD are lucky.
He's not my friend, he's just someone I know
posted on 13 Apr 2008I cherish each and every frame of this beautiful movie. It is about regular people, people we all know, who suffer a little in their life and have some baggage to carry around. Just like all of us. Robert DeNiro, Ed Harris and Kathy Baker breathe life into their portrayals and are all excellent, but Harris is especially heartbreaking and therefore very real. You would swear he really is a trucker who drinks so he won't have to feel anything. Baker as his put-upon sister also has some delicate moments - when DeNiro gives her flowers in one scene, it seems like she was never given flowers before and probably wasn't. Very worthwhile.
A very different kind of war movie.
posted on 23 Mar 2007Jacknife is a war movie that is just about as far removed from the war as war movies get. It can hardly be classified as a war film, because the only way that any war has an effect on the story or the characters is in their memories of it, and even these we are hardly ever shown. It poses very interesting questions about life, especially in the way that the movie's tagline says that only one of them is really alive (and by the way, even though the tagline refers only to Dave (Ed Harris) and Megs (Robert DeNiro), it is talking about all three of the characters in the film). Dave and Megs were friends in the Vietnam war, and Megs has returned to take Dave out on a fishing trip that they have been planning for a lot longer than you might have guessed. DeNiro provides a perfect performance of the character of Megs, who we are not really sure if we should like or if he really is as nuts as Martha thinks he is. Dave reminds Martha several times that Megs is not his friend, just someone he knows. There is a great scene early in the film where Megs has gone out to grab a six pack of beer from his car for breakfast, and he is just around the corner of the room when Dave says this. Megs pauses for a moment and then proceeds into the room with a smile and a huge greeting. It isn't until later that you realize how Megs must have felt when he heard that, having been the one to remember what they had planned to do on this day. It reminds me of the fakeness of the old, `Sure, let's do that,' thing that people so often say to each other, never having any plans to do any such thing.Ed Harris delivers a wonderful performance as Dave, who never got over the effects that the war had on him. Even so many years later he has not managed to get over the death of a friend during the war, blaming himself to this day for it and thus drowning his life in alcohol, cigarettes, and loneliness. All he wants, he says, is for people to leave him alone. This is not a man who is living his life the way he wants, whether people actually leave him alone or not, he is a man trying to forget that he's alive, to detach himself from the world of the living as much as possible.His sister Martha reminds me of myself, at least in terms of my roommates. I have two roommates who are 21 and 24 years old, and both act like they still live with their mothers, expecting their messes to just go away when they leave the room for a while. One on particular (the older one, sadly enough), has absolutely no clue how to care for himself, I'm surprised I don't have to wipe his chin while he eats. Martha has to do much the same for her brother, who she waits on hand and foot while he staggers through life from one hangover to the next. Martha and Dave are stuck in a stagnant life and neither of them can get out of it until something major changes, and Dave is the one that needs to do the changing. I tend to complain about romance in movies where it just doesn't belong about as much as Roger Ebert complains about those pathetic little tension devices, the red digital readout. But in this case, I don't think that the romance that develops between Megs and Martha had any adverse affect on the rest of the movie. On the contrary, it made it that much more interesting, because it was not predictable. The problem with the romantic subplots in Bruckheimer movies and whatnot is that they are so predictable that you just wait for the obvious end to come and hope that something interesting happens along the way. In this case, however, it's not as obvious that something is going to happen between Megs and Martha because we don't know enough about Megs. Martha could be right about him, that he's one of Dave's crazy war buddies and that he's not the kind of man that she should be dating. Dave certainly encourages this idea.(spoilers) A couple years after this movie, DeNiro did Cape Fear, where he plays a deranged criminal out for revenge against the lawyer that landed him in prison, a character that, in retrospect, makes it pretty easy to think that maybe at the end of Jacknife Martha realizes her mistake, gets rid of Megs, and she and Dave make up because he saved her from a horrible relationship and then he decides to clean up his act because he has done something good for her. I was half expecting this to happen, so I was pleasantly surprised when Martha and Megs wound up together and even more pleasantly surprised when Megs asks Dave all the questions about what they had planned to do after the war was over. At times this is a slow moving drama, but Jacknife is entertaining along the way and has a huge payoff at the end, which amazingly manages to be sappy without being cheesy. There is an almost excess of emotion at the end of the film that scarcely fits with the rest of the movie, but it is so good that it doesn't dumb down anything that the movie has accomplished up to that point. Everyone involved gives a wonderful performance, and it is one of those rare films that just about makes you want to stand up and shake your fists victoriously in the air.
The Harsh Realities for Soldiers Coming Home
posted on 22 Jan 2007JACKNIFE is a fine adaptation of Stephen Metcalfe's play 'Strange Snow' (the screenplay was also written by Metcalfe), sensitively directed by David Hugh Jones, that explores the too frequently forgotten effect of battle on veterans damaged permanently by the heinous cruelties of war. It is especially poignant to return to this 1989 film now as we watch the soldiers returning from the war in Iraq and the raw treatment they are receiving in our Veterans' Hospitals.Three friends went off to the Vietnam War together and only two returned alive: the problem is that while both men suffered in battle the one David 'Highschool' Flannigan (Ed Harris) is so severely damaged by posttraumatic stress syndrome that he 'exists' in a drunken vacuum with his very plain schoolteacher sister Martha (Kathy Baker). As David deteriorates his buddy Joseph 'Jacknife' Megessey (Robert De Niro) returns to the town in an attempt to help his friend. In the course of events Jacknife at first offers succor to Martha and eventually the two date - at a Prom Martha must attend - and at that prom drunken David completely falls apart, destroying relics in the school and terrifying the townspeople and students. Jacknife makes Dave relive the moment in Vietnam when they lost their buddy and in doing so brings David to the point where he can begin his climb toward recovery. And the long-suffering Martha finds her needs tended by Jacknife, too.All three actors give astonishingly fine performances: Ed Harris offers one of his most fully realized roles while De Niro and Baker maintain the high standards set by their careers. More people should help resurrect this all but forgotten film as it is a brittle reminder of the damages our wars bring to the men who fight them and to the families who receive them after battle's end. Highly recommended. Grady Harp
Good movie, but the play was better.
posted on 14 Nov 2006Like a few others I have noticed within the comments section of this movie I also performed this in college as the play entitled Strange Snow by Stephen Metcalfe. I performed it first as a Dramatic Interp and then as a Duo Interp, both times doing very well with it. That is neither here nor there...I think the film lacks the feeling and mood of the original play. I understand things had to be cut for timing reasons, but it seemed at times that important portions of the play were erased in the movie. And the monologue near the end is blunted in movie-land. But all in all, a splendid effort with strong performances by DeNiro, Harris (in his best pre-Pollack role) and Baker. Watch this movie, then read the play. I think you will see what I mean.
excellent drama dealing with the traumatic after effects of the Vietnam War
posted on 12 Sep 2006after just having watched The Deer Hunter,which is a masterpiece,the movie Jacknife had big shoes to fill.it has same themes as The Deer Hunter,the devastating effects on a person after the Vietnam War.Robert De Niro is in this film,as in The Deer Hunter and is very good here,as is Kathy Baker.but this movie belongs to Ed Harris,who gives a powerful,emotional and impactful performance.the movie is based on a stage play,and there are one or two scenes where that felt obvious to me.by that i just mean that for those one or two scenes it felt like i was watching a stage play.that was not that big a deal,and doesn't really diminish the film.i actually really liked this movie.it's not an epic like The Deer Hunter.they are about similar era and have similar themes,but they are two very different films.i thought The Deer Hunter was great,and i also think this movie was great.it's the acting in this one that makes it so great.for me,Jacknife is a 10/10
Very Underrated film.
posted on 23 Jun 2006Saw this on cable back in the early 90's and loved it. Never saw it again until it showed up on cable again recently. Still find it a great Vietnam movie. Not sure why its not higher rated. I found everything about this film compelling. As a vet (not from Vietnam) I can relate to the situations brought by both Harris and De Niro. I can only imagine this film being more poignant now with our situation in Iraq. I wish this would be offered on cable more often for people to see. The human toll on our soldiers isn't left on the battlefield. Its brought home for the rest of there lives. And this film is one of many that brings that home in a very hard way. Excellent film.
wonderful and difficult
posted on 20 Jun 2006I loved this movie. It is rare to get a glimpse of post-partum Vietnam, and this movie-sans combat scenes and exciting bombs and gunfire- did it. I had no idea I'd be so affected by it. What an amazing look at how alien Vets feel. It was tough to watch, quite frankly. We all understand the fighting and the Apocalypse Now type of drama, but this is so so different. What happens when they come back and try to live a life? They can't. It made me very aware of a large group of men that are rattling around lost in America. Not able to relate, can't sleep, can't have love affairs, can't deal with "normal society". They feel totally apart. This is a huge tragedy, and one that isn't addressed enough. Yeah, we've changed our attitude about Vietnam Vets, we like them now, but so what? It doesn't seem to have made any difference to them. It's too late? So it was a great film, but I cried a lot. I have no other criticisms.
this movie was needed...
posted on 30 Apr 2006Even 15 years after the end of the Vietnam war "Jacknife" came not too late or was even superfluous. It's one of the few that try to deal with the second sad side of the war: The time after. Different from movies like "Taxi driver" or "Rambo" which use to present their main characters as broken heroes in a bad after war environment this movie allows the audience to face a different view on the Vietnam vets. Their development is shown very precisely before and especially after the war. The problems are obvious but in all this tragic there is always the feeling of some hope on the basis of love and friendship. "Jacknife" might be the quietest Vietnam movie ever but after almost 15 years this is really plausible and therefor justified. Moreover, it can make us believe that the war has not finished, yet; at least for some of us.The three main characters are amazing. De Niro has done one of his best jobs but Ed Harris is the star of this movie. Possibly,this was his best performance ever.
An emotional accomplishment...as the video cover infers.
posted on 10 Dec 2005A good video selection of a movie, especially if you have not seen it before, ...if you can't find a New Release you'd like to look at. Robert De Niro, Kathy Baker, and Ed Harris supply a well rounded look of 'Healing'. Kathy Baker was just great as a supporting role.I missed Viet Nam by one year, my draft number was high enough in the year that the severe de-escalation started. This is not a 'Platoon', or 'Full Metal Jacket'. This film is about a couple of Vets in the years' aftermath. Takes place back in the States, after the War is over. Very few flashbacks were done, but were neccessary to bring context to the film. Ed Harris plays the one person who is in the most pain, and is always on the edge of hurting others because of it. Kathy Baker plays his sister. Robert De Niro was just perfect for the part he played, as he comes into both their lives. It is not a perfect film, or screenplay; but the the actors pull it off. I believe Ed Harris was nominated for a certain award for his efforts (not Oscar, another kind).You don't have to have been to Viet Nam to appreciate this movie. Though it is about the aftermath of Viet Nam experience, it can also be about Self. About how we have these opposites within ourself and how the best parts of ourself, even though they may be injured, try to reach out and save the most darkest part that we have. That movie describes what I just wrote and I could not avoid tears, myself, toward the movie's end. If you just stay with it; you may know or appreciate what I mean.
I'm sure you'll enjoy this tragic and tearful drama, which is topped off by a Grade-A cast and...
posted on 16 Sep 2004What we have here is an ultimately powerful and thought-provoking drama about the healing process after War. The film fortunately doesn't get (too) preachy, yet it's let down a little in the first half by it's slightly slow pace. Usually, I'd be the first to compliment De Niro on an incredible central performance however, as good an actor as we all know him to be, De Niro is made second-rate here, due to the practically flawless co-lead performances of Harris and Baker. De Niro and Harris are Vietnam veterans who were very close during the struggle of the war and were a team with their best-friend, Bobby. Only De Niro and Harris returned from the battlefields and we discover that Bobby died when he went back into danger to save `Meggs' (De Niro) at the cost of his own life. Harris is a drunk and a wreck of a man, drinking all day and going to all night bars to get himself through the dark hours, both men are still (in some way) traumatized from the war. Harris lives with his Sister who he neglects and doesn't appreciate, even though she is the only one who feeds him and tidies up after him, etc. Out of nowhere, De Niro turns up on their doorstep and after much confusion and persuasion; De Niro takes Harris and his sister (Baker) fishing. From there, a romance starts between De Niro and Baker, much to Harris' anger and frustration, insisting that De Niro is `sick' and `a loser'.The Director is brilliantly able to gain our sympathy for the 2 lead men at different points, at first we feel sorrow for Harris who is irritated by De Niro and really doesn't want to talk about the horrors he remembers from the war, it is this that De Niro is trying to get him to do, to be healed.We later discover that Harris is shattered because he blames De Niro for Bobby's death, and that is why he has let his despair and anger damage and push away the people around him who care about him and love him: Meggs, his sister, etc.Even if you find the pace a little slow to begin with, stick with it and I'm sure you'll enjoy this tragic and tearful drama, which is topped off by a Grade-A cast and a very heart-aching central plot outline that must mirror the lives of millions of soldiers across the globe when War breaks out.
Peerless acting from peerless actors.
posted on 07 Apr 2004Who votes in these ratings? "Jacknife" is a beautifully acted, brilliantly observed piece of work, with actors on top of their game, especially Ed Harris and the peerless Robert DeNiro(please don't mention Marlon Brando in the same breath of this man-see "Taxi Driver" for confirmation of this point). Is it a 'mundane' movie because it doesn't have sex/meaningless action/nudity in it. This movie is about the complexities of the characters involved. Ed Harris makes you feel every moment with him and his emotional outburst towards the end is heartbreaking. The part where he orders a young man in a bar to take off his army clothes is a wonderful observation of how fashion and the movies exploit tragic situations and how frustrated real men must feel to see a young upstart sporting military attire. While we are on this subject, "Casino" 7.8 out of 10? One of the greatest films of all time, from one of the greatest directors, starring THE greatest movie actor of all time, with the scariest film psychotic gangster ever, only warrants just above average? COME ON!!!!!
Underrated Film and Performances
posted on 27 Jul 2003Jacknife (1989) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Powerful drama centers on a Vietnam vet (Robert DeNiro) who looks up an old war buddy (Ed Harris) but soon falls for his sister (Kathy Baker). There were a whole slew of war movies during this period but this here is the most overlooked and that's a real shame because it's one of the best. I've heard some refer to it as a continuation of THE DEER HUNTER and there might be a lot of truth to that because this film takes place fifteen years after the war and it's clear with our characters that the horror of Vietnam are still haunting them. The movie is very quiet as it doesn't preach nor does it try to scream some sort of message. Instead we just peek in on these three people's lives and how the Harris character is pretty much dead even though he survived the war. I think what works best here are the performances, which are all rather amazing. I called the film underrated but that's also true of DeNiro's performance, which to me is one of the better ones in his career. Once again DeNiro dives head first into a role and really comes away with a very memorable character thanks to his performance. For the most part his character is out going and energetic even though he has some demons inside him and DeNiro perfectly pulls this off. I especially loved him during his out going scenes where he's constantly moving and dancing around to let off all the positive energy he's trying to give off. Those are the scenes that worked best with me and the ones that the legendary actor pulled off the best. Harris is also wonderful in the film and manages to steal every scene he's in. He doesn't have too much dialogue so the majority of his acting is with his eyes and he really does a remarkable job. Just take a look at the scene where he goes to visit the parents of his friend who was killed in the war. Baker doesn't get enough credit as an actress but she too delivers the goods here. This film has a slow pace, which allows us to get to know the characters, feel their pain and understand how all three of them are trying to grow. The moving hits on some rather dark subjects and has an overall depressing tone. This might keep some people away but that would be a shame because they'd be missing out on a very impressive film with three excellent performances.
Quiet and Compelling
posted on 17 Jun 2002There isn't a whole lot going on in this story -- just two men employing very different ways of handling memories of Vietnam. But what it lacks in premise, it more than makes up for in acting and realism. It's a quiet film about the bonds of friendship and shared experience. We even get romance (not gratuitous -- just another very real piece of this story). It's well worth seeing.
This Movie Looks Better on second viewing
posted on 05 Feb 2002" I like when my friends visit me, i feel i am not alone and this is very important, not only for veterans but to everyone, not feeling alone" says veteran group leader CHARLES DUTTON in JACKNIFE, a movie about love, friendship, life etc.., This is not a war movie, this is a movie that shows veterans, war just acts as sub-plot.Joseph Megessey ( known as 'megs' or 'jacknife') visits dave after 15 years to take him for fishing which they planned with their friend bobby who died in war before they returned from Vietnam and he says it is opening day.Dave is friend of megs and bobby is suffering from PTSD (post trauma stress disorder) has became an alcoholic to forget his friend bobby's death rather it gets worse everday which also affects his sister martha's life who is a biology teacher and pretty old too but not married yet because of dave.megs's arrival does not pleases dave but it blossoms romance with her sister which stresses more trouble for dave which leads to an confrontation at martha's prom which leads to an solution that dave is obsessed with all the time.The way movie opened stimulated an interest to watch it keenly but the treatment is contrast to the opening because the way it opened gave an impression that it is a dark deniro's kind of serious drama which don't have any significance after.The only great element survived the movie is the commitment the actors had and the way they executed is admirable especially the way deniro sporting with facial hair, definitely director must have convinced every actor on creating a impression of doing a great movie but it does'nt failed because the commitment is worth the admission for the movie.
Stupid boring "people" movie
posted on 04 Dec 2001You've seen crap like this before. De Niro plays an ex nam vet who is an extrovert and likes to meddle in every one's life. Harris is another nam vet but he is totally bonkers and yells at everyone all the time. Talk about overacting. Then there is kathy baker who plays harris' sis and de niro's girl friend. I liked her. She's cast as a 35 year old school teacher spinster who is less than beautiful but still attractive. Not much plot and of course no action. This is NOT about Vietnam, just the after effects. If you want to see people killed or beat up, skip this flik. This is for the kitchen-sink drama crowd only.PS - one thing i really hated is the way de niro and harris drive their cars 90 mph everywhere they go. Innocent people are killed by speeders everyday and there's no need to glorify such a deadly crime.
Superb but with an annoying flaw
posted on 05 Oct 2001Overall, I agree wholly with Ebert's review. In a sense, I feel that I should not even be commenting since it is so much a vet's movie and I am not a vet (I was a resister). The flaw is that Martha is badly underdeveloped and does not act consistently. My guess is that Stephen Metcalfe is a vet himself and spent too little planning time on her character.
Damn, this looks familiar....
posted on 24 Aug 2001I stumbled on Jacknife playing on Bravo... I didn't know the title, but Robert DeNero is a damn good actor, so I started watching. And I started feeling like it was de javu, all over again... I knew the story. Then I realized why I knew it. It was originally a play called Strange Snow, and I did a production of it in collage. Play to screen allows for far more intricacies in story lines, but it is the same -- two survivors of Vietnam both reacting to the real world in different manners. The first thing I thought when I read the play after I was casted was this story is an interesting mixture of a discussion of PTSD and an parable of the Christ crucification ("Bobby"'s sacrifice of his own life in Nam being his... crucification). This movie is very much worth the time. An excellent collection of actors... the script equally effective. If you are looking for a techno-stunt movie, this is not it... it is not a deep plot movie... it is a slice of life. An excellent slice.
An Afterwar Masterpiece
posted on 04 Jul 2009Jacknife is a masterpiece of the 80's. It's a movie that breaths through amazing acting and a very interesting directing touch. In Jacknife both lovers of European and American cinema can find things to relate on. The screenplay is very compelling and full of beautiful characters. Ed Harris is giving one of the greatest performances up to date. He portrays his alcoholic hero superbly making us feel his broken heart in each line, in each move. Robert De Niro makes us once again think of him as one of the greatest actors of all time in one of the simplest but also most realistic performances in his career. Jacknife is never getting boring as it shows its heroes clear of any typical Hollywood's typical character elements. After the war none is a hero. Everybody is a loser, and this movie is about that simple truth. None can mend up his pieces after a war, just like the heroes of this movie. Jacknife is about the diseases of the soul that war creates. Simply magnificent movie.