Matching Jack Review

2/5

The reality of cancer is a tender topic, especially when it concerns children. Nadia Tass’ latest film, Matching Jack, attempts to create a poignant drama that uses elements of comedy as light relief to what is otherwise a very depressing tale. Partly inspired by the true life experiences of co-writer Lynne Renew, whose own son suffered from leukaemia, it is an often bleak look at a tabooed subject we all too frequently refuse to think about.

Her first film since Amy, which was released in 2008, Tass has spent recent years working in American television and so thrusting herself back into the heart of drama, her latest project illustrates a bold move to re-establish herself on the Australian film circuit.

Focusing on young Jack (Tom Russell) who goes for a check up after getting frequent bouts of faintness, his parents learn that the problem lies in his having leukaemia. Transferred to a children’s ward, his mother and seemingly overly hard working father are naturally distraught as Jack remains oblivious to his illness. Once there, he meets a fellow sufferer Finn, (brilliantly played by Kodi Smit-McPhee, who recently starred in the remake of Swedish romantic horror film Let The Right One In), who reveals the truth of his condition and thus creates a devastating realisation for the young boy…

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Taken from Subtitled Online, published Tue Oct 4th 2011.