He is a high school drop out. He loves to dream big. He is into real estate. He loves fast money. He loves playing cards. He is in debt. He is genuine. He is Jackie. It’s a film that has a decent mixture of action, romance, right v/s wrong mirroring society and its norms. Plot sounds familiar? Well then, it is directed by Soori and has his signature.

Being Puneeth Rajkumar’s home production, the film obviously focuses around the Rajkumar family. Every now and then there is a reminder that hits the audience that this is a Rajkumar production. Scenes from Rajkumar’s films, dialogues, songs and yes, the very famous ‘abhimaani devaru’ makes way into the film. You can expect the crowd to whistle and hoot initially, but then there is an overdose of the same.

What is interesting is the way the movie begins. A black and white scene set in a strange place (already giving it the ‘noir’ feeling). Camera cuts between close-ups of 3 intense people – Duniya Soori (director), Yograj Bhat (lyricist) and Harikrishna (music director). They begin to narrate the story of what could unfold in the next 3 hours through the title track Jackie. The song cuts between them and Puneeth Rajkumar. Yes, he seems amazing and promising in the song. The concept and treatment is brilliant.

Belonging to a lower middle class family, Jackie is raised by his mother who runs a ragi mill. He is a friend to many and a pain to a few others. No rules bind Jackie. He is passionate about making money. As he tries to tell the audience what his passion is, he meets a lot of friends who take the film further. The heroine is introduced in one of his encounters. Various characters unfold bringing out the essence of Jackie.

The film has a great star cast – Ravi Kale, Rangayana Raghu, Bullet Praskash, Honnavalli Krishna, Umesh. However, other than Rangayana Raghu no one else really has a part to play. Raghu’s comedy timing comes as a relief in the second half. No other character, (not even that of the heroine) has a major role in the film. Songs of the film are fresh. Yograj Bhat surely created magic with his lyrics. The crowd eagerly awaits for each song to begin. However, cinematography (Satya Hegde) and choreography are mediocre. Stunts are also below average. Puneeth’s fire fight scene probably is worth mentioning.

Various plots, stories and incidents are weaved in leaving the audience with mixed opinions about the film. Dialogues are also average. Not entertaining, not exciting and not interesting.That is Jackie. Watch it if you are a Puneeth Rajkumar fan. Else, you can skip the film as there is nothing else in it for you!