I think this is a brilliant movie, but was curious to what others think about maybe having Jack more likeable towards the beginning of the movie, rather than seemingly very-odd right off the bat. Maybe something like Nicholson's character in "Easy Rider" where he is good-natured even though a bit odd.
Would this have played any differently?
Personally, I wouldn't really change a thing as I love Kubrick's adaptation, but was just curious.
Establishing Jack as jerk before he sets out for the Overlook really does up the suspense quotient.
If they'd seemed to be a happy family, as King intended, the first third of the film would have been dull.
Thanks for this insight. Btw I said Deliverance but meant Easy Rider. I re-read it and don't know how I made that mistake lol
shareJack is a pretty nice guy up until the point where Wendy interrupts him while he is writing. He definitely is putting on a facade during the interview and walkthrough. But he's not a prick, maybe a little sarcastic in the other scenes. But Wendy is taken aback when he snaps at her for breaking his concentration which makes me believe he does not speak to her that way normally in their relationship. The scene where she brings him breakfast in bed seems to portray how their daily relationship actually is.
I think in many of Kubrick's films we are shown the less-rosy side of people instead of a hero turning into a villain. Jack is charming during the interview/walkthrough but I'm glad Kubrick gave us the more entertaining version of the actor after that.
Yes, I think he acted normally during the interview process and walkthru. The first sign of trouble I saw was when they were in the car driving to the Overlook and when Danny said he was hungry, Jack said something about how Danny should have eaten his breakfast. I would have reacted how Wendy reacted, but Jack seemed to put down Danny's hunger, even though it was just 1 meal. He seemed insensitive.
I read the book when I was a kid, but don't remember it really as I was very young and wasn't mature enough to process certain things. So I'm not sure if the book version of Jack was more sensitive at first.
And then in the film, Jack said something to Ullman like "I have to collect my family", like they were possessions. It's little things, but they show a general character making it seem like he was very insensitive from the getgo, even though he is polite to the hotel staff (facade you mentioned).
Jack acted like a normal male parent when chiding his kid about how he should've eaten his breakfast. Normal male parent as in not spoiling his kid and/or catering to his kid's every whim. Meaning tough titty that your hungry now. They were on a mountain road at the time. What was he going to do? Stop at a McDonald's for him? And Danny took it in stride because he knew his father was right.
shareActually, don't we hear Wendy talk about Jack breaking the kid's arm and sobering up out of remorse, before we even see Jack?
That gets our guard up before the fact, when we actually see Jack we realize that he's a fake and a schmoozer, and not the charming guy he seems to be. And we know it's going to be an incredibly bad idea for this family to spend the winter in solitary confinement, because it's been made obvious in two minutes of film that the dad has unresolved issues, the mother is in denial, and the kid is in danger.
Yes, you're right. That slipped by me I guess because it was a scene that Jack wasn't in. I was surprised that it made it seem like he just quit drinking outright because of that 1 incident. I would have thought it would have been more of a process. Unless Wendy was playing it up for the Dr., and maybe it was more of a process.
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If you believe the critical theorists who have written about/made videos about this movie, Jack is evil long before the movie starts. Various theories suggest he molested his son (absolutely nothing to support that theory, btw) while others pin the "evil white patriarchy" entirely on his shoulders and he goes into the movie carrying that burden. I think Jack was just naturally weird and already banking on his Cuckoo's Nest persona which is what he'd end up doing the rest of his career (with the exception of About Schmidt).
shareJack is reading that play girl magazine
shareI'm sure he was just reading it for the articles (I always got the impression the magazine was just lying around the lobby, which is pretty weird itself, and he just happened to flip through it while he was waiting).
shareOne of the articles was "why do parents sleep with their children". I bet it was just something lying around and nothing to it but odd that it's there. The scene with Jack and Danny is sitting on his lap felt it gave off a weird vibe, and it's right before the women in the bath tub
shareI didn't think there was anything wrong or odd with Jack in the beginning. He acted like a normal human being. He had a couple of sarcastic moments. But humans have sarcastic moments all the time. He doesn't start to show craziness until about the 45 min mark. But the reason why he seems to get crazy real fast is because of the big time jump that happens. They're at the hotel for an entire month before he starts showing signs. The hotel had a whole month to work on him that's never shown.
shareThe TV movie of The Shining, written by King, has a much more sympathetic Jack who is almost doing battle with the hotel’s attempts to control him.
Kubrick decided to cut to the chase and have Jack be a small and bitter man, who resents life and his own family, he detests his wife. He has some serious demons well before the hotel got its teeth into him and pushed him over the edge.
King’s version is a much more human story, and the biggest difference is that Wendy is sexy and intelligent, she’s the real protagonist of the original story. Kubrick wanted us to find Wendy irritating, as Jack does, probably so we feel the maddening pressures he feels.
Kubrick was much more concerned with the philosophical, psychological and spiritual implications of clairvoyance and trauma being passed on, he didn’t care too much about having sympathetic characters.
Yes, Jack should have been portrayed as more likeable. That he has issues is one thing; however, he already looks like the kind of guy who could chop up his family with an axe, with little provocation. Just below the surface he brimmed with hostility. I know the movie focused on a breakdown rather than a possession; but it seemed like he was halfway there, before the isolation in close quarters with his wife and son. One look at his facial expressions or hearing the irritated, sarcastic tone in his voice in the car gives it away too soon. Watching him go crazy has less of an impact when he seemed already on the verge. Jack Nicholson is a brilliant actor capable of the warm, or sarcastic or crazy smile, and everything in between. I assume the script and direction called for that edge upfront, though, or he would have played it differently. If demons had been the source in the movie, that hostile, anti-social lunatic vibe would have worked as an invitation to possession. Already being unhinged just to become more unhinged doesn't work as well.
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