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JACK AND JILL

"Sibling Rivalry Redeemed"

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What You Need To Know:

JACK AND JILL is a new Adam Sandler comedy. When ugly Jill, who’s single, lonely, and in her forties, comes to visit her twin brother’s family at Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, it’s supposed to be for four days. Complications repeatedly ensue, dragging her visit all the way through a New Year’s week cruise with Jack’s family. Along the way, the siblings fight constantly. Jack tries to put up with her presence because he needs to get Al Pacino to act in a Dunkin’ Donuts ad for his company, and Pacino is surprisingly smitten with Jill.

JACK AND JILL is unmistakably silly fun. Sandler looks like he’s having more fun than he’s had in years playing the twins. The real surprise might be Al Pacino, who satirizes his over-the-top, angry public image. The biggest and best aspect of the movie for Christians and families is that it places a high and unmistakable value on the power of families and sibling bonding, while also criticizing dishonesty and meanness, and mocking atheism. There are, however, passing gas jokes, slapstick comedy, cross-dressing and more than a few light profanities. So, caution is recommended.

Content:

(BB, C, LL, V, S, N, A, D, MM) Strong moral, pro-family worldview about two twins who don’t get along, including woman talking to her niece and nephew implies you need to get married before you can have children, with redemptive elements of forgiveness at the end and references to Christian and Hanukkah, plus an atheist is mocked for his disbelief, mitigated by some toilet humor and slightly rough slapstick comedy; three obscenities (one “d” word and two “h” words) and 16 light exclamatory profanities such as Oh God and My God, plus toilet scatological humor includes man is surprised while shaving that his sister is on the toilet, toddlers pass gas in tub, twins pass gas in one shot while at movie theater, twins scratch themselves sitting in movie theater, woman pass lots of gas after eating Mexican food and Mexican guy mentions he was going to say something important to her when she was passing “a couple chimichanga bombs”; slapstick comedy violence includes woman riding jet ski in pool flies jet ski into nearby parasol over table, woman accidentally knocks herself out while spinning the big wheel on PRICE IS RIGHT, boy punches aunt, man and woman tussle, woman breaks bottle and threatens man with it, woman sits on pony and collapses its legs, man knocks woman down with somewhat heavy wooden chair, woman falls down hard while playing soccer, woman punches rude insulting woman, brief fight in dinner nightclub; no sex scenes but very light innuendo when man lies on computer dating site to get men to write to his twin sister, cross-dressing and man takes woman to his large home and tries to get her alone another time, plus married couple lie in bed and woman goes out on a date; upper male nudity and some female cleavage; alcohol use; brief smoking; and, brother says mean things to his awkward twin sister several times, man dresses up as his twin sister so he can convince Al Pacino to do his Dunkin’ Donuts commercial, male bathroom attendant sees man dressed up as his twin sister and adjusts the melons he has under the bosom but gets punched when he tries to do the same thing to the real sister, Jack lies on computer dating site to help his twin sister get a date, man hides from woman when she goes looking for him in restaurant bathroom, references about converting to Judaism, and rude woman is clearly David Spade posing as the female title character’s long-time rival.

More Detail:

JACK AND JILL is a typical creation from Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison production company, in which he plays both Jack and Jill, brother and sister twins who have argued since birth. It’s a little more family friendly, however, than most of those other movies.

When very ugly Jill, who’s single, lonely, and in her forties, comes to visit her twin brother’s family at Thanksgiving in Los Angeles, it’s supposed to be for four days. Complications repeatedly ensue, dragging her visit all the way through a New Year’s week cruise with Jack’s family. Along the way, the siblings fight constantly. Jack tries to put up with her presence because he needs to get Al Pacino to act in a Dunkin’ Donuts ad for his company, and Pacino is surprisingly smitten with Jill. Ultimately, Jill learns to value herself through the attentions of Pacino and Jack’s Mexican gardener, Felipe. Meanwhile, Pacino and Jack’s wife convince Jack to seek reconciliation with his sister.

JACK AND JILL is unmistakably silly fun and already has raised the hackles of mainstream movie critics. By seeing the movie with an audience of average moviegoers, it’s clear that this is a crowd-pleaser, and makes one speculate if critics hate it so much because of its strong pro-family and anti-atheist messages. Sandler looks like he’s having more fun than he’s had in years in playing the twins. He dives into his dual personas with comic gusto in addition to engaging in physical comedy including a “Double Dutch” jump rope routine with his alter ego.

The real surprise here, however, might be Al Pacino, who satirizes his over-the-top, angry public image by falling for Jill and seeking to win her heart in order to regain his artistic courage. In scene after scene, he’s completely, daffily absurd, and yet his joy is infectious. Katie Holmes as Jack’s wife also does a nice job.

The biggest and best aspect of the movie for Christians and families is that it places a high and unmistakable value on the beautiful power of families and sibling bonding, while also criticizing dishonesty and meanness. It also mocks atheism and makes belief in God look cool, as well as shows that true inner beauty can lie within anyone.

There are, however, too many passing gas jokes, slapstick comedy, and more than a few light profanities, not to mention cross-dressing. Also, Jack clearly has anger issues when dealing with his sometimes annoying sister. Thus, caution is recommended for children.

Overall, however, JACK AND JILL presents a pro-family message about overcoming sibling rivalry. Rated PG, JACK AND JILL is bookended by cute, endearing, and clean interviews with many real twins.