Jack Driscoll (character)

The original Driscoll is divided into two separate characters in the 2005 film. His duties as first mate are transferred to Ben Hayes, portrayed by Evan Parke, while the character name and the function of Ann Darrow's romantic interest are given to a playwright who tries to write a screenplay for Denham, as a friend, played by Adrien Brody. This Jack Driscoll does not intend to join the expedition at all, but delivers the script to the ship before it departs. With limited time, however, Driscoll did not write nearly enough, and Denham, desperate for more, tricks him into staying on the ship as it leaves for Skull Island. Driscoll complains that he prefers the stage, but Denham retorts that "if you really loved it, you would have jumped".

As it turns out, Denham's struggling actress, Ann Darrow, had been very familiar with Driscoll's work beforehand, and admired Driscoll greatly. She is excited to meet him, but at first the relationship is awkward (owing in part to a case of mistaken identity on Darrow's part). When writing the next part of the script with Denham, Driscoll decides to kill off the first mate. When Denham questions it, Driscoll replies, "That's assuming she knows who the first mate is". This is a reference to the 1933 film, in which Jack Driscoll was the first mate of the Venture. The two eventually grow closer, however, and Driscoll also reveals that he has begun writing a comedic play dedicated to Ann, as a sign that he has fallen in love with her (the dynamic from the original, in which Ann is told that women should not be on ships, is not actually said by Driscoll, but does appear in Denham's film, although as it turns out Driscoll's script had been altered by the actor, Bruce Baxter).

While writing the screenplay, Driscoll is the first to learn that Denham is taking the crew to an undiscovered island. When they reach the island, Ann is kidnapped by the native inhabitants as a sacrifice for Kong, and Driscoll sets out in search for her along with the rest of the crew. He shows both great amounts of courage and a single-minded determination to find and rescue Ann. Of the original party, he is the only member who survived the journey through the island (including attacks by dinosaurs, a giant fish, and giant insects) and did not return to the settlement without rescuing Ann, managing to retrieve her by himself.

Unlike the original, Driscoll did not continue with Denham or Ann after Kong was brought to New York, but rather continued with the comedy he had dedicated to Ann, nor does Denham give Driscoll credit as being the hero of the adventure at Skull Island. Driscoll does, however, come to fear that he has let Ann slip away from him.

Driscoll realizes before anyone else that Denham's opening is heading for disaster, but cannot do anything to prevent it. Discovering that Kong actually recognizes him on sight — and is hellbent on killing him for taking Ann – Driscoll attempts to use that to draw Kong away from Times Square and away from crowds of bystanders. Driscoll is nearly killed for his heroic effort, but Ann approaches and stops Kong's rampage, saving Jack's life this time around.

Jack regains consciousness and rushes into the Empire State Building, taking an elevator to the top of the building. When Ann is alone on the Empire State Building after Kong has fallen, she and Driscoll embrace.

Driscoll is also a playable character in the video game Peter Jackson's King Kong: The Official Game of the Movie, along with Kong himself. In an alternate ending, he saves Kong during the Empire State Building shootout.

With the 2005 film, the casting of Adrien Brody drew some criticism, reported by film critic Roger Ebert, because he was "not precisely hero material". Ebert defended that casting decision, saying Driscoll was just a writer who did not need "big muscles".^[1]

On the making of documentary, Adrien Brody commented that of all the films he had ever made, King Kong was the one for which he was most anticipating seeing the finished product.