JACK, brought to life by senior producer BVSN Prasad, bursts onto the scene as the freshest action-comedy to hit the box office. In this section, we dive headfirst into a review.
Plot:
Jack aka Pablo Neruda (Siddhu Jonnalagadda) is a carefree youngster who aims to join the RAW. Owing to his excessive curiosity, he turns into a maverick before getting into the RAW and starts running a parallel investigation to track Atha ur-Rehman, a dreaded terrorist. He rubs RAW agent Manoj (Prakash Raj) on the wrong side with his intrusive ways. There comes a day when Jack's good intentions lead to catastrophic consequences. The film is about how Jack redeems himself.
Performances:
Siddhu Jonnalagadda's character is not run-of-the-mill and he enjoys putting himself in the shoes of a non-conformist spy. In the Tillu duology, he could afford to look accessible and even vulnerable. In Jack, he graduates into a mainstream hero with few quirks and flaws. Vaishnavi Chaitanya of Baby fame fails to bring charm to the romantic track. She should have got to mouth one or two strong lines at least in the second half.
Prakash Raj is routine; even his dialogue delivery feels like it is a variation of how he behaved with Ravi Teja's character in Amma Nanna O Tamilammayi. Subbaraju plays an IPS officer.
VK Naresh's character is short-lived even though he is the male lead's father. Shabeer Kallarakkal is seen. Brahmaji, Ravi Prakash, Rahul Dev and Ali Reza are seen in different roles.
Technical aspects:
The songs by Achu Rajamani and Suresh Bobbili have no major highs. The dance choreography didn't suit Siddhu in any sense. Sam CS' background score is below average. Vijay K Chakravarthy's cinematography, Avinash Kolla's production design and Navin Nooli's editing belong to the pre-pandemic cinema.
Post-Mortem:
The film assumes the nature of a crime comedy while being a spy action comedy. Writer-director Bommarillu Bhaskar anchors the story on Jack, the allegedly whimsical character for whom the job of a spy is a fun-filled adventure. Characters describe him as dangerous. He boasts about being unpredictable. But 30 minutes into the movie, all that we sense of him is that he likes to over-talk and annoy others, especially his dad and an IPS officer he barely knows. He works at a frantic pace and, illogically, even the RAW guys can't check him in time.
Only Jack knows what the term 'Lone wolf' means. Cops don't know how to track a suspect who is right in front of their eyes. Since he has to appear relaxed and carefree, everyone else from the RAW is nervous. Prakash Raj's character is always flustered.
Jack enjoys his own wit more than the audience. Saving Hyderabad from a terrorist attack and showing desperation for a kiss like an incel is equally important to him on certain days. Just because his dead mother trusted his intuition blindly when he was a school-goer, he grows up to be a foolhardy, South Asia-trotting risk-taker who can't ascertain the risk-reward matrix.
On the upside, the hero's characterization does lead to a few genuinely funny moments. The scene where the father-son duo exchange emotional dialogues ends up being a self-aware spoof on the 'Dad gives his son a motivational speech' genre of scenes. The final 20 minutes pack action and comedy in a way that taps into Siddhu's strengths as an actor.
Closing Remarks:
JACK attempts to blend action and comedy with a quirky lead, but falls flat. Siddhu Jonnalagadda's charm is overshadowed by a simplistic plot and inconsistent character development.
