YOU DON'T KNOW JACK

title: YOU DON'T KNOW JACK
year: 2010
cast: Al Pacino, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Brenda Vaccaro
rating: **

Although parts of this biopic of Jack Kevorkian are interesting, it's as dull as any propaganda can be. Al Pacino looks, and sounds, the part: but in playing a famous (or infamous) person the director's obviously praising, it's more a one-note impersonation than reality. The good guys, including Jack and his cohorts, are proud, enlightened and flawless; while the bad guys aren't the big stalking media who named him "Doctor Death," but a small fraction of over-the-top Christians. The direction by Barry Levinson flows decently enough, but the story of a man this controversial needs balance to work.