Jacob Mackeby Movie Analysis Essay

After his father’s suicide, a despondent artist accidentally kills a mobster, and finds himself in prison with the mobster’s nephew, and as he begins to connect the clues, he realizes that his father may have been murdered.

BRIEF SYNOPSIS

JACOB MACKEY (20’s), an artist, is despondent over the death of his father, VICTOR. He told that his father jumped and committed suicide. Jacob and his father never got along and the last thing he remembers is his father telling him, he didn’t want him in his life. Jacob doesn’t know that his father was actually murdered by a mobster named BIG AL, who made it look like suicide.

Jacob decides to end his own life and climbs out the window, but changes his mind, only to slip and fall. He lands on Big Al and

In a comedy it would definitely work and ironically be amusing.

The arrest of Jacob by the police for involuntary manslaughter also challenges the audience’s believability. It doesn’t feel realistic. Once the script loses credibility with the viewer, it’s difficult to get this back.

Act two and act three do become a bit confusing to follow and it, again, offers a lot of coincidences that the audience has to accept. One is that Jacob is put in the same cell with the nephew of Big Al. Also, it doesn’t seem logical that Jacob and Sly don’t know the other’s real name or identity. At one point, Sly seems concerned when he learns Jacob’s name, but he doesn’t seem to act on it.

Where it becomes a bit confusing is when Jacob somehow puts it all together about Sly, Big Al, and his father, but one isn’t clear how. For example, on page 83, he says, “You did this?” One isn’t sure what he means. On page 85, he makes a connection to Sly, but again one isn’t sure how he’s doing this.

There are unclear motivations that need clarification too. The first is why they killed Victor (his money? But why Victor?). Then there’s the killing of the therapist in jail, and one isn’t sure of the motivation to kill

He sounds like a mobster, so the twist works nicely.

Angie is a likable character, but her motivation to help Jacob is not well understood.

Jacob’s mother (give her a name) doesn’t feel consistent as a character. On one hand, she claims she cares for Jacob and that her actions were motivated by wanting to protect him, yet she’s abrupt and not interested when Jacob calls. However, she tells Angie that she’s sorry for her behaviors (around page 65), yet when Jacob calls her again, she still acts a bit hostile. She’s a character that needs more development and consistency.

The dialogue has strengths and weaknesses. Some characters have a more distinctive voice like Big Al and Sly. Jacob’s voice is not as distinctive. Avoid on the nose dialogue such as, on page 88, “What are you going to do?” In films like this, normally the hero has a sharp voice that is sardonic and has wit. Bring this out in Jacob.

Also, be careful of telling or explaining information vs. showing it. This occurs when a character is described. For example with Jacob, “He longs for the reaper to put him out of his misery…” Remember, this is information that can’t be