''Jack the Dog'' is a 2001 American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film, written and directed by

Bobby Roth Robert Jay Roth (born 1950) is an American television and film director, screenwriter and producer. Life and career Born and raised in Los Angeles, Roth began his tertiary education at the University of California, Berkeley studying philoso ...

and starring

Néstor Carbonell Néstor Gastón Carbonell (; born December 1, 1967) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter. He came to prominence for his role as Luis Rivera in the NBC sitcom ''Suddenly Susan''. He is known for his roles as Richard Alpert in the ABC ...

, Barbara Williams, Barry Newman, and

Anthony LaPaglia Anthony LaPaglia (, ; born 31 January 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Jack Malone in the television drama ''Without a Trace'' (2002–2009), for which he received a Golden Globe Award in 2004. LaPaglia won a Prim ...

. The film premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

on January 22, 2001, and was released on DVD in the United States by Rivercoast Films on August 12, 2008. A sequel, ''

Manhood A man is an adult male human. Prior to adulthood, a male human is referred to as a boy (a male child or adolescent). Like most other male mammals, a man's genome usually inherits an X chromosome from the mother and a Y chromos ...

'', was released in 2003.

Plot

Serial womanizer Jack (

) settles down with Faith ( Barbara Williams), but when the marriage falls apart due to Jack's desire for women, he has to share custody of their son, Sam (Andrew J. Ferchland). Living with Sam makes Jack slowly change his thinking and way of life.

Cast

as Jack The Dog * Barbara Williams as Faith * Andrew J. Ferchland as Sam * Barry Newman as Simon *

as Jack's Attorney *

Travis Fine Travis Lane Fine (born June 26, 1968) is an American actor, writer, director and producer, perhaps best known for his film '' Any Day Now'', and for his roles in '' Girl, Interrupted'' and ''The Young Riders''. Personal life Fine was born in Atl ...

as Buddy *

Peter Coyote Peter Coyote (born Robert Peter Cohon; October 10, 1941) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, author and narrator of films, theatre, television, and audiobooks. He worked on films such as ''E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), '' Cro ...

as Alfred Stieglitz *

Thomas Gibson Thomas Ellis Gibson (born July 3, 1962) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his television roles as Daniel Nyland on ''Chicago Hope'' (1994–1997), Greg Montgomery on ''Dharma & Greg'' (1997–2002) and Aaron Hotchner on ''C ...

as Faith's Attorney *

Jürgen Prochnow Jürgen Prochnow ( ; born 10 June 1941) is a German-American actor. His international breakthrough was his portrayal of the good-hearted and sympathetic U-boat Captain "Der Alte" ("Old Man") in the 1981 war film ''Das Boot''. He is also known f ...

as Klaus *

Lauren Tom Lauren Tom (born August 4, 1961) is an American actress. Her roles include Lena St. Clair in '' The Joy Luck Club'', Julie in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'', Dot in the final season of ''Grace Under Fire'', and the voices for Amy Wong in ''Futurama'' ...

as Angel *

Navi Rawat Navlata Rawat (born June 5, 1977) is an American television actress, known for her roles as Theresa Diaz on the drama series ''The O.C.'' and math prodigy Amita Ramanujan on the drama series ''Numb3rs''. Early life Rawat was born in Malibu, Cal ...

as Ruby *

Grey DeLisle Grey DeLisle (; born Erin Grey Van Oosbree; August 24, 1973), sometimes credited as Grey Griffin, is an American voice actress, comedian and singer-songwriter. DeLisle is known for various roles in animated productions and video games. On Sept ...

as Estella *

Gia Carides Gia Carides (born 7 June 1964) is an Australian actress. She portrayed Liz Holt in ''Strictly Ballroom'', Susy Connor in ''Brilliant Lies'', and Cousin Nikki in ''My Big Fat Greek Wedding.'' Early life Carides was born in Sydney, Australia, t ...

as Georgia *

Gabe Kaplan Gabriel Weston Kaplan (born March 31, 1945) is an American actor, comedian, and professional poker player. He played the eponymous teacher in the 1970s sitcom ''Welcome Back, Kotter''. He later became a professional poker player and a commenta ...

as Richie *

Tracey Walter Tracey Walter (born November 25, 1947) is an American character actor. He has appeared in more than 170 films and television series. Life and career Walter was born and grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, as the son of a truck driver. He has a s ...

as The Mortician

Release

The film premiered at the

on January 22, 2001. Rivercoast Films distributed the film through home media in the United States on August 12, 2008.

Reception

''Jack the Dog'' received a mixed to negative response from film critics, and gained a lukewarm reception during its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Todd McCarthy of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote: "Tale, which lurches along with little sense of pacing or time elapsed, has plenty of niggling problems," and added: "Performances, from the handsome Carbonell to those of Williams as the rhinoceros-hided wife and the many actresses in for literally quickies, are energetic but no more illuminating than the dialogue as to the inner life of their characters."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jack the Dog (film) 2001 films 2001 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films Films directed by Bobby Roth Films shot in Los Angeles Films scored by Christopher Franke 2001 comedy films 2001 drama films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films