‘Jack the Bear’

Marshall Herskovitz’s 1993 film of the 1972 Dan McCall novel tells the story of two boys, 12-year-old Jack (Robert J. Steinmiller Jr., right) and little brother Dylan (Miko Hughes, center), whose father (Danny DeVito, left) is the host of a late-night monster movie TV show. The film is essentially about how Jack comes to realize the real monsters in his life. In moments of stress, Jack’s memories of his mother (Andrea Marcovici), killed in a car accident, haunt him. Scripted by “Schindler’s List” Oscar-winner Steven Zaillian, the film focuses on Jack’s pain without apology, and while DeVito is miscast, the flaw is not fatal because the the movie really belongs to Steinmiller (HBO Sunday at 4:15 p.m., Wednesday at 11:30 a.m.).