Jack Be Nimble (film)

Jack Be Nimble is a New Zealand gothic horror movie directed by Garth Maxwell, who later described it as "a stylised supernatural tale". The film stars the American Alexis Arquette and the New Zealand actor Sarah Smuts-Kennedy. It includes one of the final movie appearances of the legendary British/New Zealand actor and musician Bruno Lawrence.

Jack Be Nimble
Directed byGarth Maxwell
Produced byJohn Barnett
Murray Newey
Jonathan Dowling
Kelly Rogers
Written byGarth Maxwell
Rex Pilgrim
StarringAlexis Arquette
Sarah Smuts-Kennedy
Bruno Lawrence
Music byChris Neal
CinematographyDonald Duncan
Edited byJohn Gilbert
Distributed byNew Zealand Film Commission,
Essential Films
Release date
  • 1993 (1993)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryNew Zealand
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Jack (Arquette) decides to put an end to the abuse he has received from his adoptive parents, and runs away to find his long lost sibling, Dora (Smuts-Kennedy). Although Dora has fared much better since their abandonment and subsequent adoption, she is also drawn to use her telepathic powers to find him. Along the way, Jack is constantly pursued by the four daughters of his adoptive parents, seeking revenge for their parents' demise at the hands of Jack and his invention.

DVD release

Used copies of the film can often be found on DVD selling for multiple times their original price, due to its rarity and cult status.

Critical reception

The film has received many positive reviews. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that "the film cuts back and forth between scenes of their childhood and adolescence, it evokes their misery and isolation with a feverish intensity that recalls scenes from Hitchcock and De Palma". Dominic Corry of the New Zealand Herald described the film as "one of the strangest New Zealand films ever made" and thought that it "deserves way more of a cult reputation than it currently enjoys".[1] Kim Newman of Empire Online said that Jack be Nimble was, "Not a film likely to please everyone, but strong stuff nonetheless".[2]

References
  1. "Jack Be Nimble". NZ On Screen. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  2. "Jack Be Nimble". Empire Online. Retrieved 13 December 2019.


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