Captain Jack

Charming if rather slight, Captain Jack (1999) is buoyed, so to speak, by a nice performance from Bob Hoskins in the title role. Described as being "loosely based on a true story," the film centers on a gruff but sentimental old salt out to fulfill his dream of sailing to the Arctic to place a plaque commemorating the exploits of one William Scoresby, an 18th-century captain whom Jack believes has been unfairly slighted in favor of the more celebrated Captain Cook. The self-important, humorless powers-that-be in Jack's home port, the picturesque northern English burg of Whitby, don't much care for Jack or his iconoclastic ways, so they deem his vessel, the Yorkshire Beauty, un-seaworthy for the flimsiest of reasons (the ship's bell is two centimeters too small, there's no sand in the fire bucket, that kind of thing). Of course, Jack defies them, recruiting a motley crew of landlubbers (among them two elderly, squabbling sisters; a young Australian drifter; and a guy whose henpecking wife and odious brood of brats would inspire any sane man to book passage on the Flying Dutchman) and sets off on a two-week journey for the frozen North, while the Royal Navy and various other authorities pursue them halfheartedly. Little happens that we don't expect, and the crises they encounter (some rough weather, a confrontation with a couple of polar bears) are fairly mild. Still, director Robert Young and screenwriter Jack Rosenthal keep the story moving briskly, the tone is light and amusing, and the scenery is lovely. Presented with a passable transfer and no DVD extras beyond cast biographies, 1998's Captain Jack is wholesome family fare, making it a strong optional purchase. (S. Graham)