You Don't Know Jack (film)

''You Don't Know Jack'' is a 2010 American 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 Oakland County, Michigan, pathologist Jack Kevorkian (Pacino) to help the terminally ill and the profoundly disabled end their lives. The outspoken Kevorkian becomes a polarizing figure and is often referred to as "Dr. Death" in the press. He is assisted by his sister Margo Janus (Vaccaro), as well as his longtime friend and medical technician Neal Nicol (Goodman), and Janet Good (Sarandon), who founded the eastern Michigan chapter of the Hemlock Society. By accepted accounts, he aided 130 people to die.

Kevorkian is unsuccessfully tried four times, but after taking an unprecedented direct role in the August 1998 death of his final patient Thomas Youk, he is convicted of second degree murder and is sentenced to 10-to-25 years in prison. He serves more than eight years and is released in June 2007.

''You Don't Know Jack'''s screenplay is largely based on the book ''Between the Dying and the Dead'' by Neal Nicol 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.

Plot

Prompted by the plight of David Rivlin, a quadriplegic who litigated to be removed from his respirator so that he could die, the sight of a dying woman in a hospital bed, and the memory of his mother Satenig's death more than two decades earlier, Jack Kevorkian builds his first "Mercitron" from parts bought at a flea market. He meets with Rivlin and presents his device. Kevorkian explains that through an intravenous line, Rivlin can first self-administer a harmless saline solution, to be followed by thiopental that will cause him to fall into a coma, lastly potassium chloride that will stop his heart, causing death.

Due to the expense and the difficulty of obtaining the drugs, Kevorkian develops a less expensive method using tanks of carbon monoxide. Rivlin, however, becomes agitated, and Kevorkian is forced to leave. Rivlin is removed from his respirator, and food and water are withheld. In an interview with reporter Jack Lessenberry, Kevorkian denounces what he sees as the cruelty of his unnecessarily painful death, comparing it to the Holocaust. He believes that his "death machine" would have induced a quicker and easier death, and begins offering his services as a "death counselor".

His first patient is Janet Adkins, a 53-year-old woman from Portland, Oregon, who is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The disease is in its early stages, but Adkins is increasingly suffering from memory loss and confusion. With Kevorkian's help, she dies on June 4, 1990. Soon after, Kevorkian begins aiding people in earnest.

As Kevorkian's notoriety increases, he provokes polarizing public opinion. His supporters believe that he is performing a public service and that the government has no right to interfere with the decisions of competent individuals who want to die. He insists that he gives his patients a means to end their suffering; they alone make the decision and initiate the process. He also claims to have turned down 97 or 98 percent of the people asking for his help.

His critics, however, believe that he is playing God. Conservative Oakland County prosecutor Richard Thompson considers Kevorkian to be a murderer but cannot gain a conviction; he attributes his failures to Michigan's weak laws regarding assisted suicide, and he advocates stronger laws. In 1998, Thompson loses an election to a more liberal assistant prosecutor, David Gorcyca, who has no interest in wasting money (a major criticism of Thompson) prosecuting Jack Kevorkian, so long as he assists only in suicides.

However, Thomas Youk's September 16, 1998, death is different. Youk, reputed to be Kevorkian's final patient, is so crippled by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) that he cannot self-administer the drugs. Kevorkian personally administers it. A video of Youk's death is presented as part of Kevorkian's interview with reporter Mike Wallace of the CBS news program ''60 Minutes''. It leads to him to being indicted.

Despite the intervention of Youk's widow Melody and his brother Terry, Kevorkian is convicted of second degree murder. He represents himself, while in previous cases, he was represented by attorney Geoffrey Fieger. He is sentenced to 10-to-25 years in prison. He wants his case to be heard by the United States Supreme Court, so that the issue of assisted suicide can be decided. The court declines to do so, however. Kevorkian is released in June 2007 after serving more than eight years.

Cast

* Al Pacino as 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 Margaret "Margo" Janus, Kevorkian's sister and assistant until her death in 1994
* John Goodman as Neal Nicol, Kevorkian's longtime friend and 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 Glen Stetson, a fictitious character who is a paraplegic who tried to immolate himself and is turned down by Kevorkian and Janet Good
* Cotter Smith as Dick Thompson, Oakland County prosecutor from 1989 to 1996
* David Wilson Barnes as David Gorcyca, Dick Thompson's successor as Oakland County prosecutor. Successfully prosecutes Kevorkian in the death of Thomas Youk

Production

Reception

The film received largely positive reviews. lt currently has an 83% rating at the aggregate film review website Rotten Tomatoes.Page at ''Rotten Tomatoes.com''
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Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

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{{Barry Levinson

2010 television films
2010 films
2010 biographical drama films
American biographical drama films
Films scored by Marcelo Zarvos
Films about euthanasia
Films directed by Barry Levinson
Films set in the 1990s
Films shot in Michigan
Films shot in New York City
Medical-themed films
HBO Films films
2010s English-language films
American drama television films
2010s American films
English-language biographical drama films