There have been plenty of films about comic-book heroes, but 'Jake Speed' rings the changes in that it's about one that many of its other characters don't believe exists. Only Grandpa (Leon Ames) thinks that pulp-novel hero Jake is the man to prise his granddaughter (Rebecca Ashley) from the grip of white-slave traders. No sooner has he voiced his thoughts than his other other granddaughter (leggy Karen Kopins) finds Jake (Wayne Crawford) and his sidekick (Dennis Christopher) on her doorstep with some hare-brained scheme to rescue her sister. The adventure will be turned into a book, they being the authors of their own (real-life) exploits under a pseudonym. So it's off to Africa where John Hurt entertains us with a broad, revue-sketch villain who takes 'great pride in never having lived up to anything' and where there's almost as much action as in the last 20 minutes of a Schwarzenegger film. It's a nice idea that, with a lot of careful development and witty dialogue, might have been an unexpected delight. The fact that it doesn't begin to work on this level is largely the fault of Crawford himself, who co-scripted (heavily) and isn't really handsome or personable enough to play the hero.


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