Word: jakes
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...comes the truth. Somewhere between Sam's smooth talk about opening up a security firm, somewhere between promising to open up a restaurant and "make things work out," something seems to go wrong, Cocaine, nearly as American as divorce, enters the scene and blasts Mama Livingston out of reality. Jake and Brian meet Sam's strange friends, find Mom and Sam crashed out on the couch after some coke blizzard and learn that Sam is moving in. "Just like that?" Jake asks. "We live here...
Watching the world almost exclusively through Jacke's warm but confused eyes, Firstborn makes Jake into a Superkid, faced with Herculean tasks while still in the Clearosil mindset. Mom seems intent on bringing down her life on top of the entire family: his real Dad is nothing more than a dinner partner on the way to a seven a.m. business trip; his girlfriend just wants to have fun. His English teacher warns, "Watch it Jake, your works not so good that you can afford to get on my bad side...
...Jake appears torn between the two great adolescent impulses: rebellion and brooding. Jake the brooder downs wine with his girlfriend, races across town on his motorbike, and walks everywhere with a permanent glaze of confusion and despair. Jake the rebel plays the quintessential smart-ass, letting out sarcasm faster than he can understand it. This Jake mouths things like "Don't ever touch me or my brother again," even as Sam appears ready to smash him into the wall. This Jake assures his brother's principal there will be no more fights "Because I promise...
...Jake the Brooder and Jake the Smart Ass we know well. Those Jakes are adolescence according to Hollywood. Unable to solve problems, they either sulk them or Sherry Lansing, largely responsible for Kramer vs. Kramer introduce a different teenager here, a teenager who can't just drink away his problems or race away on his motorbike. His brother, saying don'tcare where we go-let's just go, offers the route many would choose...
With all its dimensions and contradictions, Jake's character entails an unusual challenge given the Hollywood trend to treat its young male leads as Calvin Klein underwear models and the general willingness of its leads to seem even devoid of that much acting ability. Much of the success of Firstborn comes from Christopher Collet's masterful performance as Jake, offering even in his sassiest scenes a glimpse into the conflict tearing at him. How disappointing, then, that Firstborn must nonetheless include the de rigeur weightlifting scenc in Jake's bedroom...