Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Penny Marshall’s directorial debut, Jumpin’ Jack Flash follows bank employee Terry Doolittle (Whoopi Goldberg) as she begins corresponding with a mysterious figure via her computer terminal – with the bulk of the narrative detailing the increasingly perilous tasks Terry is asked to complete by her unknown associate. There’s ultimately little doubt that Jumpin’ Jack Flash fares best in its early scenes, as filmmaker Marshall does an effective job of establishing the kooky central character and the relatively memorable environs in which she works – with this vibe certainly heightened by a proliferation of familiar, compelling figures within the supporting cast (including Jon Lovitz, Phil Hartman, and Carol Kane). And while the initial emphasis on Terry’s spy-related shenanigans perpetuates the pleasantly watchable atmosphere – Terry must, for example, go undercover within a fancy ball at the British consulate – Jumpin’ Jack Flash moves into a progressively underwhelming and too-complicated-for-its-own-good midsection that slowly-but-surely drains the viewer’s interest (ie there’s so much going on here that it becomes impossible to care about any of it). Goldberg’s affable yet often egregiously broad performance doesn’t really help matters, unfortunately, and the movie, by the time it arrives at its frantic conclusion, has confirmed its place as a sporadically watchable misfire that works as neither a comedy nor a spy caper.

** out of ****