Writer: Massy Tadjedin (Screenplay) Tom Bleecker, Marc Rocco (Story)
Starring: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kelly Lynch, Brad Renfro, Daniel Craig, Steven Mackintosh
Plot: A Gulf war veteran is wrongly sent to a mental institution for insane criminals, where he becomes the object of a Doctor’s experiments, and his life is completely affected by them.
There may be spoilers the rest of the review
Verdict: Confusing Time Travel Film
Story: The Jacket starts when 27-year-old soldier Jack (Brody) in Iraq gets hot and killed in action, well so he thought. One year later he ends up inside a mental institute for a murder he doesn’t remember committing. Jack gets put through an extreme treatment program which leads to him being locked up in a straitjacket in the morgue.
When he awakes he finds himself wondering around the streets picked up by Jackie Price (Knightley) who just so happens to be the very little girl he met 15 years earlier on the day of the murder he is meant to have committed. Somehow he has traveled through time ten years and now Jack finds himself time hopping between time periods trying to put the pieces together and prevent his own death.
The Jacket gives us a time travel film that has to have certain comparison to Jacob’s Ladder, but not for the good reasons. We have a war veteran that gets stuck in a time hop where he can learn to change his present after visiting the future. He wants to change the world for the people who help him but ultimately he would like to save his own life. I see a lot of issues with this story, mainly the reason he gets locked up never gets solved or changed if he can change time. I also found the random time hop never really made sense because we never learn how it happens. There are plenty of holes that need filling in this one as it just doesn’t capture the idea of what it is trying to do.
Actor Review
Adrien Brody: Jack Starks is the Gulf war veteran who gets wrongfully locked up in a mental institute, while in there he goes through extreme treatment that leads to him going into the future where he must figure out a way to prevent his own death in the past. Adrien is good but doesn’t reach all the levels we know he is capable of.
Keira Knightley: Jackie Price is the young lady Jack meets when he goes into the future, he met a younger version of her in 1992 but in the future she must work with him to uncover what really happened with his death in the past. Keira gives us a good supporting performance without being anything special.
Kris Kristofferson: Dr Becker is the controversial Doctor at the institute, he uses methods that are against any ethical code and his patient getting the newest amount of his treatment is Jack. Kris is good as this doctor but we would like to see a lot more from his character.
Jennifer Jason Leigh: Dr Lorenson is another doctor at the hospital, she sees that not everything is running the way it should and understands that Jack isn’t as mental ill as the rest believe him to be. She is working on a private case which Jack ends up becoming a key part of. Jennifer gives us a strong supporting performance.
Support Cast: The Jacket has a good supporting cast without being too involved with Daniel Craig really stealing most scenes.
Director Review: John Maybury – John doesn’t give us the best time travel like thriller that keeps us wondering without giving us all the answers.
Horror: The Jacket puts us into the horror of not knowing what is going on with his mind-set.
Mystery: The Jacket does try to keep you guessing through the film without giving us much hope of getting anything right.
Sci-Fi: The Jacket gives us a time travel idea without ever looking into what is happening in depth.
Settings: The Jacket doesn’t give us any stand out settings, we have moments in the mental institute otherwise it is just random outside locations.
Special Effects: The Jacket has good effects when needed.
Suggestion: The Jacket is one to try, it does get a little bit confusing though. (Try It)
Best Part: Locked up scenes are good.
Worst Part: Slightly too confusing.
Believability: No
Chances of Tears: No
Chances of Sequel: No
Post Credits Scene: No
Similar Too: Jacob’s Ladder
Oscar Chances: No
Budget: $29 Million
Runtime: 1 Hour 43 Minutes
Tagline: the first one is hard, then comes easy
Overall: Time travel like film that is filled with confusing and plenty of unanswered questions.
Rating