Jumpin' Jack Flash proved to be an important moment in the careers of two women, setting star Whoopi Goldberg and director Penny Marshall on a course that would make both Hollywood legends.
The sight of Whoopi Goldberg dressed head to toe in thermals to blunt a particularly cold New York winter and, it is assumed, some dodgy plumbing, reminds me of growing up at home with a flaky boiler leaving us with a single working radiator. Just like Whoopi in Jumpin’ Jack Flash, I’d snuggle down in thick pyjamas under the duvet; a hot water bottle beneath my feet, a mountain of blankets piled on top.
It’s little wonder her domestic plight rang true with me; a familiar situation to hang an over-the-top adventure, where espionage, murder and red herring collide with eighties new-age technology and unconventional romance. It’s a potpourri of disparate cliches that, thankfully, never grow tiresome thanks to the comic energy of the film’s luminous star.
Full review here.
