(1984) dir Richard Franklin w/Henry Thomas, Dabney Coleman, Christina Nigra, Michael Murphy [101 min] In the 1980s, spy fiction even reached its tendrils into kids’ films. In this inventive thriller, Davey Osborne (Thomas) is an imaginative 11-year-old who loves video games, has an absentee father, and dreams up adventures with a fictional super-spy named Jack Flack. When he is slipped sensitive information by a dying FBI agent, Davey must go on the run with nothing but his precocious wits and his imaginary hero to protect him. This wonderful film never gets goofy and, despite its target audience, creates a surprisingly exciting adventure that might complimentarily be dubbed “Hitchcock light.”
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(1984) dir Richard Franklin w/Henry Thomas, Dabney Coleman, Christina Nigra, Michael Murphy [101 min]
In the 1980s, spy fiction even reached its tendrils into kids’ films. In this inventive thriller, Davey Osborne (Thomas) is an imaginative 11-year-old who loves video games, has an absentee father, and dreams up adventures with a fictional super-spy named Jack Flack. When he is slipped sensitive information by a dying FBI agent, Davey must go on the run with nothing but his precocious wits and his imaginary hero to protect him. This wonderful film never gets goofy and, despite its target audience, creates a surprisingly exciting adventure that might complimentarily be dubbed “Hitchcock light.”