Original Narrative Hook Poor Ending No spoilers but it's necessary to give away the narrative hook to explain the complex plot.Someone is LA is copy catting the Jack the Ripper murders exactly 100 years to the date. Everyone in LA is on high alert as this is the night of the fifth and final murder.James Spader is a left handed doctor named Jack. GET IT? But Spader is not the Ripper. He accidentally stumbles on the fifth murder and finds a coworker at his office also named Jack. The two fight and Jack insists he is not the Ripper just before hanging Spader and making it look like the Ripper committed suicide after completing his killing.Similar to 'Psycho's twist of the lead character dying early in the film, we are left to wonder, how can Spader find the real Ripper if he's dead within the first 20 minutes? Enter Spader's black sheep twin brother Rick with a criminal history. Rick is furious with the police whom are trying to pin the murders on his brother. Rick's brotherhood bond lets him know just as we do that Spader was not the killer nor did he commit suicide.Not only do the cops dismiss Rick's claims but when some evidence leads away from their original theory, the cops start looking at him as being his brother's accomplice.As the audience we know the original Spader twin is innocent but could Rick be the real killer? Unfortunately the ending isn't surprising, it's just plain silly. But for the first 1:15 it keeps us hanging on the every single clue. It's worth watching.

Running concurrent with a slate of Jack the Ripper style killings, medical student John Wesford(James Spader), working in a free clinic for the uninsured, is attempting to raise awareness about Los Angeles' poverty plight. The style and subjects chosen are practically identical to the notorious Jack the Ripper, left-handed, with anatomical knowledge and precise with surgical tools. One more victim is left to be targeted, and due to a direct link with the Ripper slayings of the past, the one chosen will be pregnant. Jack Pendler(Rex Ryon), a janitor at the free clinic, shows up at a pregnant hooker's apartment to give her an abortion, when John himself decides he might check in on the same woman. John finds the hooker slain on her bed, covered in blood, and, coincidentally, Jack returns supposedly to bring her antibiotics. Panic-stricken, Jack eventually strangles and hangs John by a rope in the free clinic(after pushing John into the dead victim, getting blood on his clothes, he becomes the prime suspect)leaving the police to believe he committed suicide. So John, a "man of the people" is considered the Ripper killer and the only one who might help clear his name is a twin brother, Rick(also played by Spader). But, before losing it, Jack claims hysterically to John that he did not murder the pregnant woman..could someone else actually be responsible for the other crimes?I would love to say that JACK'S BACK is more than just your standard Hollywood thriller, but it really isn't..well, maybe except for the bizarre way the filmmakers arrange for the real murderer to be identified(not only of his own brother, but the Ripper killer as well). Except for Spader in dual roles, there really isn't much to distinguish this from all the other thrillers you are accustomed to seeing. Police are searching for a killer with multiple twists identifying who the real culprit is, while one clearly is shown murdering a victim, it's an obvious red herring in regards to the Ripper slayings. You know that, despite having completed the Ripper murders as intended, the psychopath would just have to target "damsel in distress", Chris(Cynthia Gibb, the love interest for John, and later Rick, joining forces with him to find the real killer)so that he can not only be put in a position to be caught in the act, but so that the "wrong man", Rick, could come to the rescue. Robert Picardo is psychiatrist Carlos Battera, a little weird(okay, a lot weird), who the police turn to with help apprehending the Ripper killer..his hypnosis assists Rick in putting a face to the real murderer. This film, as directed by Rowdy Herrington(Roadhouse with Patrick Swayze), does include an interesting development which propels the story forward..twin brother Rick actually sees through his dying brother's eyes as he's being strangled and eventually hung in a dream! I found it amusing how the filmmakers arrange the differences between Rick and John: Rick's hairstyle, leather jacket, air of mystery, aura of danger, a speedy convertible, while John has frumpy clothes, a messy apartment, dedicated work ethic, ease with the public, and a dying VW bug which has seen better days. Oh, and Rick knows karate, so he is able to defend himself, unlike his brother, against the mammoth Jack who outweighs him by a cool thirty pounds.

Jack the Ripper films are one of my favorite, however, this film was boring and very unrealistic. I simply could not wait until it finally ended and the real Jack the Ripper was finally revealed. However, I knew who Jack the Ripper was from the very beginning of the picture. James Spader(John/Rick Westford) "I Witness"'03, gave a great dual performance and is a great up and coming actor along with Cynthia Gibb(Chris Moscari) "A Crime of Passion"'03 TV,who loved John Westford and became very close with Rick. These actors did a great job with a horrible script about nothing !

Someone is killing prostitutes in a very Jack The Ripper-esque fashion on the 100 year anniversaries of The Ripper's original murders. A med student (Spader) gets caught up in the last murder and winds up meeting a tragic fate. Now his twin brother (also played by Spader) is out to find the man responsible for his death and gets caught up in the middle of the copycat murder case in the process. Oh, and he has to clear his own name because he is a suspect in the above mentioned case AND also a suspect in his brothers murder...Whooo. Now that's a s*** load of plot!Jack's Back is an odd movie and kind of deceiving. You see, no one in their right mind is gonna market a movie this complicated. So what the box tells ya is that Jack's Back is about a murderer mimicking the Jack The Ripper slayings of a century ago. Well, that's only half the movie. Jack's Back is a murder mystery turned revenge noir turned suspense thriller that manages to avoid drowning itself in murky plot, pointless subplot, or endless dialogue in an attempt to competently tell the story and wrap everything up in the end. From the title and basic premise of the film one may think it's just your basic slasher type/murder mystery exploitation stuff that was recycled over and over again when this movie was released. If so, you're wrong...Jack's Back starts as a murder mystery about a nutball killing prostitutes, when we meet a med student with a heart of gold, John played by James Spader. He soon finds himself at the scene of one of the Ripper murders and is eventually killed. His shady twin brother Rick who sees the murder in a dream soon pops up. The police are quick to write off John's death as a suicide, but Rick knows better. He soon sets out to find the guy responsible with the help of Chris (Gibb) who had a thing for John and is developing a thing for Rick when he finds that things aren't as they seemed and the Ripper copycat is out for more blood. Writer/director Rowdy Herrington gives us a strong, well developed script with great characters and memorable situations. His ability to shift from a murder mystery to revenge flick to thriller deserves major props. Props to Herrington for creating such likeable and complex characters too. Great job! From a directing standpoint, Herrington gives the movie a moody and uneasy atmosphere blanketed in thick fog. Burnout Central award to Herrington. James Spader delivers a layered and very strong double performance that engaged me and kept my eyes glued on him. Cynthia Gibb gives a strong performance as well. I dug how the script didn't go into familiar romantic territory even though Spader and Gibb had great chemistry. Burnout Central awards to both!It was great to watch a movie with such a dense storyline that never forget what it was supposed to do-entertain. I was intrigued and fascinated with the story, performances and Herrington's ability to construct such a multi-layered plot and still find a way to pull it all together. Jack's Back isn't conventional in the least, it marches to its own drum, has class, and is well written, acted and directed. Check it out!