MovieChat Forums > Cloak & Dagger (1984) Discussion > Jack Flack worse role model than Tyler D...

Jack Flack worse role model than Tyler Durden


Is it me or is Jack a more evil alter ego than Tyler from Fight Club?
It must mean Davey's dark side is darker than Ed Norton's character.
He convinces a child to:
1. run through traffic
2. kill a man without using a gun
3. Actually shoot a man
4. lie to his father
5. lie to police
6. steal a videogame
7. hide in a trunk(which is bad enough for kids to do but there was even a dead body in it)
8. Other various juvenile delinquency

All in all not a good role model.

I wonder if this came out today and was hyped by our new super media if parents would complain that kids were being influenced to act poorly. As for kids from 1984 I watched this movie a million times, and I don't believe it made me do bad things.

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Well, Jack Flack wasn't convincing the narrator to blow up stuff, take a leak in people's food, et cetera.

As to your list:

:1. run through traffic
All right, I'll give you that one. I think it was meant to be funny, though.

:2. kill a man without using a gun
Two men, both of who were trying to kill him. (or was it just one? It was Alvarez and some other guy, right?)

:3. Actually shoot a man
Who, again, was trying to kill him. Also by impeding his progess towards the airport, he was helping the old couple commit treason.

:4. lie to his father
Uh, no. I remember the movie fairly well, having seen it like 20 times, and he never actually lied to him. In fact, it was very important to Davie that his father believe him.

:5. lie to police
Considering that Rice came down the stairs right after that, it's possible that that Rice might have concocted a story about Davie stealing the video game. But since Davie didn't call attention to it, he was able to keep it.
Davie also had no reason to trust the guard, or the police. He was supposed to
go to the FBI. What shocks me is this: the FBI has an anonymous tip line, even back then. So why didn't Davie call them? I suppose it's possible he didn't know about it (after all, his first inclination was that the guys trying to kill him were Nazis)

:6. steal a videogame
Far, far worse was getting Morris involved. Davey got Morris killed.

:7. hide in a trunk(which is bad enough for kids to do but there was even a dead :body in it)
Of course he did leave the lid unlatched for ventilation. I still don't understand how he got it open without a key.

:8. Other various juvenile delinquency

Jack Flack taught him to act like a spy, and he did a marvelous job. David G. Osborne must've made a great spy, they should do a sequel so we can see what he's like as an adult.

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Good points, but you have to remember that Jack Flack is a manifestation of Davey's own mind. Jack represents Davey's "fearless spy" side, telling him to do all those things, kinda like with Tyler in Fight Club. As Davey matures throughout the movie, Jack eventually dies/leaves. The true role model is Davey's father.

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Yea. You forgot to mention that Jack smokes too.
I saw this the other day for the first time in 20 years. I recognized the name but it wasn't until I saw Henry's character that it all came back to me. The first thing that came to my mind was that it did remind me of a combo of Fight Club and Drop Dead Fred.
While watching the movie I kept wondering the same thing: if this movie came out now, how would the self important d-bags at the Parents Television Council feel about it. Even though it's pretty harmless and goofy, I bet they'd ban it and get Gerry Farwell to call for a boycott.
"for shame, they're telling kids it's okay to steal, play with guns, and run across traffic."

"Don't you know there aint no Devil,
There's just God when he's drunk."
-Tom Waits

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Pretty funny posts.

I actually did commit each of those crimes after watching the movie rented from Errol’s in 1986. I to was not in any trouble afterwards. Go figure

I loved this movie, I own it on DVD today, it’s just a movie I loved as a kid and cannot give up the Nostalgia, its better then most R rated movies today.

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You actually shot someone? Tell us more ...

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You actually shot someone? Tell us more ...

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he's got a kickass jacket, and that more than makes up for it.

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