''Lightning Jack'' is a 1994

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

written by and starring

Paul Hogan Paul Hogan (born 8 October 1939) is an Australian actor and comedian. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance as ...

, as well as

Cuba Gooding Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appeare ...

and

Beverly D'Angelo Beverly Heather D'Angelo (born November 15, 1951) is an American actress who starred as Ellen Griswold in the ''National Lampoon's Vacation'' films (1983–2015). She has appeared in over 60 films and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for h ...

Plot

Lightning Jack Kane, a long-sighted Australian outlaw in the American west, lives with his horse, Mate. After the rest of his gang is killed in a robbery-gone-wrong, Jack survives only to read of the events in the newspaper that he was nothing next to others. Annoyed at not being recognised as an

outlaw An outlaw, in its original and legal meaning, is a person declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, all legal protection was withdrawn from the criminal, so that anyone was legally empowered to persecute or kill them ...

, Jack attempts a robbery by himself, and ends up taking young

mute Muteness is a speech disorder in which a person lacks the ability to speak. Mute or the Mute may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Mute'' (2005 film), a short film by Melissa Joan Hart * ''Mute'' (2018 film), a scien ...

Ben Doyle as a hostage. He later discovers that, tired of never having been treated with respect due to his disability and his race, Ben wishes to join him. Jack attempts to teach Ben how to fire a gun and rob banks, with his first attempt at "on-the-job" training ending with Ben shooting himself in the foot. Across the course of the training, they pay occasional visits to saloons where Jack shows Ben the truth about adult life, including helping him to lose his

virginity Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...

. However, the true nature of the saloon visits is for Jack to make contact with showgirl Lana Castel, who, unbeknownst to Jack, is madly in love with him. When Ben's training is complete, the two learn of a bank which is said to have the entire town armed and ready to protect it. Jack sees this as the test he has been waiting for, and together they hatch a plan to rob it. Everything seems to be going smoothly and they are set to begin, until Jack discovers that a rival gang of outlaws is also planning to rob the bank. He is prepared to give up when Ben has a plan of his own. Ben silently tips off the townspeople, who quickly swarm the bank with the rival outlaws inside. The gang is arrested and the entire town celebrates, allowing Jack and Ben to slip unnoticed into the bank and swiftly strip it clean. Before leaving, Jack jumps into the celebrations, ensuring that his grinning face is seen at the top of the town photo. By the time the true robbery is discovered, the two - and Lana - are gone, with a bounty of thousands on their heads and all of America searching for them - the life that Jack had always wanted.

Cast

as Jack "Lightning Jack" Kane *

as Ben Doyle *

as Lana Castel *

Kamala Lopez Kamala Lopez is an American filmmaker, actress, writer, director, and political activist. She has had starring roles in '' Black Jesus'', ''Medium'', ''24'', ''Alias'', ''NYPD Blue'', ''Hill Street Blues'', ''Miami Vice'', and ''21 Jump Street''. ...

as Pilar *

Pat Hingle Martin Patterson Hingle (July 19, 1924 – January 3, 2009) was an American character actor who appeared in stage productions and in hundreds of television shows and feature films. His first film was ''On the Waterfront'' in 1954. He often play ...

as U.S. Marshal Dan Kurtz *

L.Q. Jones Justus Ellis McQueen Jr. (August 19, 1927 – July 9, 2022), known professionally as L.Q. Jones, was an American actor and director. He appeared in Sam Peckinpah's films ''Ride the High Country'' (1962), ''Major Dundee'' (1965), ''The Wild Bunc ...

as Sheriff Tom *

Richard Riehle Richard Riehle (born May 12, 1948) is an American character actor. He portrayed Walt Finnerty on ''Grounded for Life'' (2001–2005) and The Warden on ''The Young and the Restless'' (2007). He also appeared in over 200 films, including '' Glory'' ...

as Marcus *

Frank McRae Frank McRae (March 18, 1941 – April 29, 2021) was an American film and television actor, and a professional football player. Early life McRae was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He graduated from Tennessee State University with a double major i ...

as Doyle *

Roger Daltrey Roger Harry Daltrey (born 1 March 1944) is an English singer, musician and actor. He is a co-founder and the lead singer of the Rock music, rock band The Who. Daltrey's hit songs with The Who include "My Generation", "Pinball Wizard", "Won't Ge ...

as John T. Coles *

Max Cullen Max Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film ''Spider and Rose'' and the television series ''The Flying Doctors ...

as Bart

Production

Paul Hogan wanted to make a classic Western and he was attracted to the idea of making a movie about a bank robber. Hogan created a company, Lightning Ridge Ltd, which he then floated on the Australian Stock Exchange to help fund the film through investors buying stock. Hogan raised funds this way in order to maintain creative control over the film. The company was delisted in 2001. Filming took place in Santa Fe, NM; Tucson and Page, AZ; Moab, Utah; and Colorado with some interiors shot at Village Roadshow Studios, Movie World Studios on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in Australia. Director Simon Wincer says making the film was a logistical nightmare because there were so many other westerns filming on the same locations at the same time, such as ''Wyatt Earp'', ''Geronimo'', ''City Slickers 2'' and ''Tombstone''. Major League Baseball pitcher Roger Clemens makes an uncredited cameo appearance as the eye-patched outlaw character "Dutch Spencer".

Reception

''Lightning Jack'' got negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes the film has an approval rating of 6% based on reviews from 17 critics.

Box office

The film opened at number 2 in the United States behind ''Guarding Tess'' and grossed less than $17 million in the United States and Canada. It grossed A$6.4 million in Australia and $25 million worldwide.

Year-end lists

* Top 18 worst (alphabetically listed, not ranked) – Michael Mills, ''The Palm Beach Post'' * Dishonorable mention – Glenn Lovell, ''San Jose Mercury News'' * Dishonorable mention – Dan Craft, ''The Pantagraph''

References

External links

* *
''Lightning Jack''
at Oz Movies {{Simon Wincer 1994 films Australian Western (genre) comedy films American Western (genre) comedy films 1990s English-language films Films directed by Simon Wincer Village Roadshow Pictures films Savoy Pictures films 1990s adventure films Films shot in Utah Films shot in Arizona Films shot in Colorado Films shot in New Mexico Films shot in Australia 1990s Western (genre) comedy films 1994 comedy films 1990s American films