REVIEW: 'You Don't Know Jack,' and Neither Does HBO

Several days ago, I had the opportunity to attend an advance screening of the HBO film “You Don’t Know Jack” about the life of Dr. Jack Kevorkian. The television movie has a strong cast including Academy Award winners Al Pacino and Susan Sarandon and is directed by Academy Award winner Barry Levinson. Despite the cast and crew, the movie often fails to bring insight into the life of the controversial doctor who became well-known for helping patients kill themselves.

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The movie, which premieres this Saturday on HBO, focuses on Dr. Kevorkian’s work helping sick patients end their lives. It begins around the time that Dr. Kevorkian began actively assisting patients in their attempts to die. As the movie progresses, the doctor receives a great deal of publicity for his methods as he continues working with new patients. The film explores the methods that Dr. Kevorkian used and it also focuses on the types of patients that Dr. Kevorkian did and did not assist in bringing their lives to a close.

Al Pacino stars as Dr. Kevorkian and he gives a fine performance. I had expected the movie to paint Kevorkian in a positive light and I was pleasantly surprised that the movie does not portray him as a sensitive and flawless doctor trying to do the right thing for his patients. In this movie, Kevorkian is seen as a strange and self-centered individual who enjoys being in the spotlight and courting controversy. He is very unlikable and can be cruel to his patients (which can be seen in a dramatic scene of a suicide attempt that goes wrong).

On the other hand, Dr. Kevorkian’s legal opposition is not seen in a positive or appealing light either. Throughout the movie, one politician is seen as continuously attacking Kevorkian and bringing court cases against him. That politician is simply seen as a man with a vendetta trying to stop Kevorkian no matter what. We see him attacking Kevorkian without really understanding why he is so personally passionate about stopping the doctor.

In terms of the patients seen in the movie, it is hard not to empathize with them. They often speak about the pain and suffering they are facing and their deaths are often difficult to watch. Whereas Kevorkian is depicted in a harsh light, his practices of helping patients kill themselves are often seen more positively. Unfortunately, the movie does not feature much of a discussion or debate about the issues involving end of life care and the practices that Kevorkian became famous for supporting.

The biggest disappointment that I had with the film it that it does not provide insight into the main characters, including Kevorkian. The audience understands what Kevorkian actually did but there is little discussion about why he became so passionate about helping people end their lives. The audience does not get to understand who Dr. Jack Kevorkian really is and what he stands for, outside of his obvious belief that doctors should be able to help some patients kill themselves. Reading newspapers or books about Kevorkian could probably enlighten you as to what Kevorkian did that made him so controversial but I hoped that this movie would add more depth to the man and that it would contain more of a discussion and debate about the methods that Kevorkian used.

Viewers interested in knowing who Dr. Jack Kevorkian is might be inclined to watch “You Don’t Know Jack.” The title creates the impression that the movie knows a lot about Dr. Jack Kevorkian. Unfortunately, after watching the film itself, I can attest to the fact that the creators of this film seemingly do not know who Jack is either.