As in this, something leads us to believe Jack Thompson was considered a stud back in the day. Although The Journalist isn't plot driven, it has been based loosely on a real identity, that Thompson plays. Like Petersen, he has his fair share of sexcapades which start at his place of work, or when he takes business trips to Asia, where he indulges in more pleasure than business. He even picks up two much younger hotties in a bar who work him over. His soon to be wife, (Elizabeth Alexander) who's madly in love with him, is fun to watch, who keeps forgiving him, after the revolving doors of his infidelity. The split screen of him chatting to her from Asia, while bedding an Asian hottie is one of the few funny moments. He even seeks help from a doctor, explaining his situation. This explanation sounded clichéd of other movies he does, where he beds numerous women, this almost becomes laughable. His competition and nemesis, Sid (Charles Bud Tingwell) hates Simon (Thompson) where underneath it's clearly palpable he envies him. When becoming Thompson's boss, Sid has him put in the journalistic animal department. One scene I love every time I see it, is an old woman bringing her two big poodles in the office, where one of them urinates over Thompson's desk. Thompson, pulls a phony stringing him up by the neck gesture, with his tie, telling this interviewee that he has a date with his psychiatrist. Another delight is Thompson's daughter, who not only acts well, but acts older than she, character wise. She lives with his Simon's ex, a strict sort. We can kind of see why Thompson left her for the delightful Alexander. Incidentally Alexander and Thompson's daughter in this, showed up again in Summerfield, years later. Sam Neil, Thompson's friend and colleague, Rex, so wants the affections of Alexander, he doesn't have much to do here in the film, but be a slightly jealous buddy, and realize he'll have to make do with second place in the romantic stakes, when he's not bouncing back against nude statues in an art exhibition. Despite it's flaws and weaknesses, of course, we're talking plot, The Journalist still manages to be entertaining, but there are no real messages this movie sends home, or potent value, just that some men are pigs, and are prone to infidelity. So not everybody's perfect, but neither is this film.
