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Jack (2013)

Jack (2013), directed by Jeff Woolnough, starring Rick Roberts and Sook-Yin Lee.

03/10/2013 BR 1h 28m

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Synopsis

New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton was bilingual, glib, annoying, full of energy and always in front to the media. Growing up in a political family, Layton was a Toronto city councilor for 17 years and was head of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for a year. He became leader of the federal NDP in 2003 and the party became the Official Opposition for the first time in history. Then his health problems began.

  • C. Kim MilesCinematography
  • Jeff WoolnoughDirector
  • Andrew WreggittStory
  • Shelley EriksenStory

About the film

Jack is a Canadian television film, which debuted on CBC Television on March 10, 2013. A biopic of the late Jack Layton, the film stars Rick Roberts as Layton and Sook-Yin Lee as Olivia Chow. The film was originally announced in 2012 as Smilin' Jack: The Jack Layton Story.

The film was directed by Jeff Woolnough, and written by Shelley Eriksen and Andrew Wreggitt. The Parachute Club's 1983 hit single "Rise Up" is the opening theme music.

Both Roberts and Lee won Canadian Screen Awards for their performances at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards, Roberts as Best Lead Actor in a Television Film or Miniseries and Lee as Best Lead Actress in a Television Film or Miniseries.

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Jack is a Canadian television film, which debuted on CBC Television on March 10, 2013. A biopic of the late Jack Layton, the film stars Rick Roberts as Layton and Sook-Yin Lee as Olivia Chow. The film was originally announced in 2012 as Smilin' Jack: The Jack Layton Story.

The film was directed by Jeff Woolnough, and written by Shelley Eriksen and Andrew Wreggitt. The Parachute Club's 1983 hit single "Rise Up" is the opening theme music.

Both Roberts and Lee won Canadian Screen Awards for their performances at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards, Roberts as Best Lead Actor in a Television Film or Miniseries and Lee as Best Lead Actress in a Television Film or Miniseries.

Cast

Rick Roberts as Jack Layton

Sook-Yin Lee as Olivia Chow

Zachary Bennett as Brad Lavigne

Joel Keller as Karl Bélanger

Wendy Crewson as Anne McGrath

Judah Katz as Brian Topp

Victoria Snow, Brittany Scobie, Conrad Sweatman, Erin Karpluk and Diana Ha also appeared.

Production and filming

Film for Jack was announced on November 17, 2011. Jack was filmed in Winnipeg.

Reception

The Globe and Mail called Jack a "varnished version of Mr. Layton", while John Doyle of the same periodical, wrote "[Jack Layton] moved us; the biopic [on him], not so much".

References

External links

Jack at IMDb

Text from Jack (2013 film) on Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_(2013_film)

Trivia

Production

Cast

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What is Jack about?

Jack: New Democratic Party leader Jack Layton was bilingual, glib, annoying, full of energy and always in front to the media. Growing up in a political family, Layton was a Toronto city councilor for 17 years and was head of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for a year. He became leader of the federal NDP in 2003 an…

Who directed Jack?

Jack was directed by Jeff Woolnough in 2013.

Who stars in Jack?

The cast of Jack includes Rick Roberts, Sook-Yin Lee, Zachary Bennett, Joel S. Keller and Wendy Crewson.

How long is Jack?

Jack runs for 88 minutes, or 1h28.

Page updated on 09/11/2026.

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Scene from Jack