Jacob Brackman (born 1943) is an American writer, journalist, and musical lyricist. After graduating from Harvard University in 1965, he went to work for Newsweek as a journalist. He remained there for six months and was then hired by The New Yorker. He subsequently worked as a film critic at Esquire magazine from 1969 until 1972. He met Carly Simon in 1968 when they were both working as counselors at a summer camp in the Berkshires and the two became close friends. Most of Simon's albums include one or two songs co-written with Brackman; typically, Simon writes the music and Brackman writes the lyrics. Among the dozens of songs they have written together are the top ten hits "That's the Way I've Always Heard It Should Be" (1971) and "Haven't Got Time for the Pain" (1974), both of which were sung by Simon. The lyrics to the Broadway musical King of Hearts were written by Brackman, and so, too, were the screenplays for The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) and Times Square (1980). He has also collaborated musically with James Taylor, Steve Winwood, Dr. John, Fred Astaire, Michel Polnareff and Dionne Warwick. He was the executive producer for the acclaimed Terrence Malick film, Days of Heaven (1978). He married the late Mindy Jostyn, and co-authored the lyrics on her CDs. Brackman has been an influence on many other artists, including Welsh rock group the Manic Street Preachers, who included a cover version of his song "Damn Dog" from the film Times Square in their 1992 album Generation Terrorists.
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Biography from TMDB.
- September 22, 1943 (83)
- New York City, New York, USA
- Writer and producer
- 4 on MovieCove
What are Jacob Brackman's films like?
Across a limited sample of 3 MovieCove titles with a thematic analysis, their films lean Power and Bonds.
Themes
What they feel like to watch
Ironic 0 · Wry 0 · Earnest 3
Light 1 · Serious 1 · Dark 1
Grounded 1 · Stylized 1 · Heightened 1
Gentle 0 · Charged 3 · Intense 0
Steady 0 · Shifting 3 · Whiplash 0
Straight-faced 3 · Some laughs 0 · Funny 0
Slow burn 1 · Even-paced 2 · Relentless 0
Casual 1 · Engaged 2 · Full focus 0
A split, not a type: Easy watch 0 · Affecting 1 · Heavy 2
Resolved 1 · Open-ended 1 · Ambiguous 1
Moods and endings
AI-generated from each title's plot synopsis and cast list, with extra plot summaries, reviews and Parents Guide notes for titles the model may not know, and the model's own knowledge of the ones it recognizes. Only analyzed titles count, so this covers part of the filmography; the feel axes count films only for now.
Where can I watch Jacob Brackman's films?
As of October 24, 2026, 3 of their 4 MovieCove titles stream on a subscription or free service.
Subscription and free streaming for Jacob Brackman's titles on MovieCove; rent and buy are not counted. Titles are listed by Midcredits score, highest first, at most 12 per service; a dashed chip is a producer credit or a minor one, such as a thanks. A service opens the browse page, which counts movies only, so its number can differ.
Filmography
4 credits, 4 with a MovieCove page; 2 appearances as themselves are hidden until asked for.
Law & Order(1990)
Midcredits score: 79th percentile of all shows
Times Square(1980)
Midcredits score: 71st percentile of all films
Days of Heaven(1978)
Midcredits score: 96th percentile of all films
Midcredits score: 61st percentile of all films
Career shape
A full career of 4 titles from 1972 to 1990.
How do Jacob Brackman's films land?
Their typical MovieCove film has a Midcredits score in the 71st percentile, the median of all 3; across a limited sample of 3 films with reception data, the typical film sits in the 73rd percentile for acclaim.
- 75th and up2
- 50th to 74th2
Shape of the crowd
None of their 4 titles divides audiences: 3 are Crowd Pleasers.
- Universally Loved1
- Crowd Pleaser3
Reviewers score the dialogue 45/100 and the plot and story 32/100 in their films, across 3 reviewed titles. The element that speaks to their work as a writer.
Percentiles are each film's standing among all films on MovieCove; the typical film is the median, so one outlier cannot drag it. Percentiles and reviewer scores count the films IMDb credits them on, for now; the Midcredits score bands, the shape of the crowd and the two cards count their MovieCove titles, shows included (a show ranked among shows), appearances as themselves left out. A descriptor is the shape of a title's IMDb rating distribution against the catalog; "most divisive" needs a spread wider than half of all titles, and a card names only a principal credit: a craft role, and on a show a crew role or a run of episodes, never a courtesy credit or a one-off guest spot.
Who does Jacob Brackman work with?
People who share at least 2 of Jacob Brackman's MovieCove titles; Harold Schneider shares the most, 2.
- Harold SchneiderShared titles: Days of Heaven (1978), The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)See all 2 shared titles with Harold Schneider