You Don't Know Jack (film): Difference between revisions

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You Don't Know Jack
Written by	Adam Mazer
Directed by	Barry Levinson
Starring	Al Pacino Danny Huston Susan Sarandon John Goodman Brenda Vaccaro
Theme music composer	Marcelo Zarvos
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Producers	Scott Ferguson Lydia Dean Steve Lee Jones[1]
Cinematography	Eigil Bryld
Editor	Aaron Yanes
Running time	134 minutes
Production company	Bee Holder Productions[2]
Budget	$18 million
Original release
Network	HBO
Release	April 24, 2010 (2010-04-24)

You Don't Know Jack is a 2010 made-for-television biopic written by Adam Mazer and directed by Barry Levinson. It stars Al Pacino, John Goodman, Danny Huston, Susan Sarandon, and Brenda Vaccaro.

The film dramatizes the efforts of former Michigan pathologist Dr. Jack Kevorkian (Pacino) to help the terminally ill and the disabled to end their lives through either lethal injection or the inhalation of carbon monoxide.^[3] It features Kevorkian's actual videotaped consultations with a number of patients with the real Kevorkian replaced with Pacino.

You Don't Know Jack's screenplay was based largely on the book Between the Dying and the Dead by Kevorkian's longtime friend and assistant Neal Nicol (portrayed by John Goodman) and Harry Wylie. The film received numerous award nominations. Al Pacino won Primetime Emmy, Golden Globe, and Screen Actors Guild awards for his performance as Kevorkian.^[4] It received largely positive reviews and currently has a 90% rating at the aggregate film review website Rotten Tomatoes.^[5]

From 1990 to 1998, former Oakland County, Michigan pathologist Jack Kevorkian, who alleged to have assisted 130 terminally ill or disabled to die; his first patient is Janet Adkins, a 54-year-old woman from Portland, Oregon who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. She dies on June 4, 1990.^[6] Kevorkian, typically referred to as "Dr. Death" in the press, quickly becomes a polarizing figure nationally and is unsuccessfully tried four times. His supporters believe he is performing a public service and that the government has no right to interfere with the decisions of competent individuals; his critics believe he is playing God and cite Michigan's weak laws for the prosecutor's inability to convict him. Kevorkian insists that he had only gives his patients a means to end their suffering and they alone made the decision to do end their lives and initiated the process. He claims he turned down 97 or 98 percent of the people asking for his help.

However, in the case of Thomas Youk (reputed to be his final patient), who is so crippled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis that Kevorkian injects the lethal drug, potassium chloride himself. Youk dies on September 16, 1998. Two months later, video of Youk's death is presented as part of Kevorkian's interview with reporter Mike Wallace of the CBS program 60 Minutes. It leads to him being indicted and ultimately convicted of second degree murder. Kevorkian represents himself; in previous cases, he was represented by attorney Geoffrey Feiger. He is sentenced to 10 to 25 years in prison.^[7] He wants his case is heard by the United States Supreme Court so that the issue of assisted suicide can be decided. The Court declined to do so, however. Kevorkian is released in June 2007 after serving over eight years.

He died on June 11, 2011 at age 83.^[8]

• Al Pacino as Dr. Jack Kevorkian
• Danny Huston as Geoffrey Fieger, Kevorkian's attorney
• Susan Sarandon as Janet Good, a right-to-die advocate and patient
• Brenda Vaccaro as Margeret "Margo" Janus, Kevorkian's sister until her death in 1994
• John Goodman as Neal Nicol, Kevorkian's longtime friend medical technician
• James Urbaniak as Jack Lessenberry, a reporter
• Eric Lange as John Skrzynski, an assistant prosecutor
• John Engler as Himself (stock footage), Michigan governor from 1991 to 2003
• Richard E. Council as Judge David Breck
• Sandra Seacat as Janet Adkins, Kevorkian's first patient
• Adam Driver as Glen Stetson, a fictitious character who is a paraplegic who tried to immolate himself and is turned down boy Kevorkian

The film was nominated for 15 Primetime Emmy Awards and won two: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Al Pacino and Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie, or Dramatic Special for Adam Mazer. Pacino also won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild Award for his performance.

• Official website
• You Don't Know Jack at AllMovie
• You Don't Know Jack at IMDb
• You Don't Know Jack at Rotten Tomatoes

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