Synopsis
Jake Speed (Wayne Crawford) is the lead character in some of the biggest page-turners of the 1940s. A chiseled, heroic action figure, Speed saves lives on paper, but when a young girl is kidnapped and her sister (Karen Kopins) begs the real-life Speed for help, he must find a way to be as gallant as the book hero whose creation he's inspired. Accompanied by the victim's sibling, Speed flies to Africa to see if he's up to the task.
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Cast
- Wayne CrawfordJake Speed
- Karen KopinsMargaret Winston
- Dennis ChristopherDesmond Floyd
- John HurtSyd
- Leon AmesPop Winston
- Roy LondonMaurice
- Donna PescowWendy
- Barry PrimusLawrence
- Monte MarkhamMr Winston
- Millie PerkinsMrs Winston
Recommendations
- 70
Variety
Jake Speed is fun - a deliberately mindless adventure that keeps tongue firmly in cheek. - 60
Los Angeles Times
It has a lively start and finish, but the middle could use less talk and more action--which is not to say it couldn't do with a much lower body count as well. Indeed, were it not for a big dollop of gratuitous violence, it would be more diverting and better crafted than most of the stuff filling up the screen in anticipation of the rest of the summer blockbusters. - 50
TV Guide Magazine
Although the film fails at a number of levels, most acutely in never making us care much about any of the characters or their problems, it possesses a loopy charm that makes it a pleasure to watch. - 50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Jake Speed is slower than a dying bullet, its tongue so firmly in its cheek that it can't enunciate a single sentence pleasingly. [30 May 1986, p.C5] - 50
Miami Herald
By the time John Hurt shows up, in the role of the villain, the fun's over. Crawford tries for sardonic and falls short, into lazy. Lane's pace is way off; his adventure seems to take forever to get under way, and the jokes aren't enough. Good pulp is better than this. [04 June 1986, p.D1] - 40
The New York Times
Most of the possibilities for humor or tension, either sexual or dramatic, are badly botched by the flat performances of the other lead actors and the consistent bad timing of the director - everything misfires or misconnects, leaving too many long, dead moments that prove that even an adventure film with lots of running and shooting can be boring. - 40
Time Out
Crawford plays Speed with his foot in his mouth rather than tongue-in-cheek, and instead of glorying in the experiences of the pulp novel dialogue, dissipates all the comic potential by his evident bewilderment. - 25
Chicago Tribune
Jake Speed isn't a movie. It's just a financial deal.
