Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #73321 in DVD
• Released on: 2001-11-13
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Customer Reviews

Darkly Hilarious
Divorcing Jack is a hilarious, preposterous romp that ain't gonna be up most folk's alley. It's got a top drawer cast that one wishes, perhaps, were in a slightly better film, but they make the most of the material and often take it up a notch or two beyond where one expects it to go.

David Thewlis is terrific as Starkey and he bumbles through plot twists that are almost dizzying. Joining him is a terrific performance by Aussie actress, Rachel Griffiths, who at this point in her career seems capable of doing just about anything. Her gun toting stripper nun bit is priceless.

Obviously, from so many negative reactions, Divorcing Jack is not a typical feel good film, but for those who enjoy figuring out the nearly indecipherable, double crossing agents, chase scenes, strippers in nun drag, symbolism, the ongoing situation in Northern Ireland tossed with some bitter, black and often delicious humour, check out Divorcing Jack. You just might surprise yourself!

A black comedy with a message; highly underrated
A vastly underrated film that was practically ignored by both critics and viewers, Divorcing Jack is a highly enjoyable, and often powerful, film with a terrific cast and a very clever title that keeps you interested to the last minute. It's good to see David Thewlis, one of the finest British actors of his generation, play the lead in a British film - as he did in his prime, and not a side character in Hollywoodian films like Harry Potter. His performance in Divorcing Jack isn't quite as remarkable as the one he gave five years before in Naked but it's fantastic by its own right, and just like in Naked Thewlis creates an anti-hero that is egoistic, weak, detestable, and entirely believable; if you're looking for a noble hero to sacrifice himself for the greater good because that's the right thing to do, look elsewhere. Dan Starkey cares for himself and makes excuses for nobody; and that makes him a protagonist you can relate to.

There are some neat surprises in the supporting cast: Australian born Rachel Griffiths - AKA Brenda Chenowith of HBO's terrific Six Feet Under - who was practically anonymous in 1998, is terrific as Thewlis' stripper-in-nun's-clothing sidekick, and supplies some of the film's funniest moments. Jason Isaacs, who, like Thewlis, has recently familiarized himself with American audiences through the Harry Potter movies, in bone-chillingly excellent in the lead villain role. The beautiful Laura Fraser (who had recently made a career for herself in Hollywood with supporting roles in movies like Titus, Vanilla Sky, and A Knight's Tale; but anyone who happened to catch the excellent BBC mini-series Neverwhere will surely remember her as the charming Door) has a part that's brief but unforgettable. American TV regular Richard Grant is lovely and believable as the visiting reporter from the US who came to cover the upcoming elections but is more interested in learning about the difference between the different types of scotch. And experienced British actor Robert Lindsay steals the show as the dodgy candidate. Finally, a brief but hilarious cameo from the charming Bronagh Gallagher (The Commitments) as a taxi driver.

The film's messages about the horrors and idiocy of war and particularly the Irish civil war are familiar and would have been corny in a straight drama, but as in Catch-22 and other classic black comedies, the absurd humor of the film makes it powerful. If you take any of the two aspects of the film - comedic or political - and separate it from the other, maybe it really isn't all that good. Perhaps that's why it failed to find its audience in the US and most of Europe. Myself, I've lived my entire life in Israel, and am familiar with a war between two neighboring factions that always seems on the brink of resolution just before the situation explodes again, and that has its highest price in the innocent lives of people on both sides who just want to be left alone in peace, while the leaders of both peoples carry on their senseless warmongering. Divorcing Jack has a simplistic view of the situation but it's important to make it heard. The ending is inevitable and almost predictable, yet it's the only proper ending this story could possibly have. Divorcing Jack is highly recommended; it's neither a romantic comedy nor a straight thriller, but it's a good and powerful film to enjoy and to think about.

Black comedy at its best
This is a comedy classic - filmed at a time when peace was just breaking out in Northern Ireland after nearly 30 years of pain, hurt and suffering. The Northern Irish have a good laugh at the stupity of the war and indeed themselves as only they can!