Hammerman Ikon

Hammerman Ikon Film Guide

You Dont'k Know Jack
2010
***½
Director: Barry Levinson
Cast: Al Pacino, Danny Huston, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Brenda Vaccaro, James Urbaniak, Eric Lange, Richard E. Council, Cotter Smith

Dr. Jack Kevorkian (1928-2011) was an advocate for euthanasia, who earned the nickname Dr. Death. In the 1990s, he ended up in legal trouble after carrying out numerous assisted suicides on terminally ill patients. This compelling but obviously one-sided autobiographical drama is based on Between the Dying and the Dead by Neal Nicol and Harry Wylie. The story concentrates on a few years in Kevorkian's life, and the film is all the better for it. Al Pacino gives a wonderful and unusually understated performance.