A troubled war veteran tries to unlock his memories of a terrible crime in this stylish thriller, the first American project for British filmmaker John Maybury. In 1991, Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) was an American soldier serving in the Persian Gulf when he was shot in the head; pronounced dead by a field surgeon, Starks somehow returned to life, though with no small number of psychological problems to show for his troubles. A year later, Starks is walking through the snowy Vermont wilderness
when he discovers a woman whose truck has broken down, Jean (Kelly Lynch). Starks tries to help Jean and her young daughter, and later flags down a car for a ride into town; however, the car is being driven by a criminal on the run from the police (Brad Renfro), and not long after the car is cornered by police, Starks' memory goes blank. When he comes to, Jack is accused of killing a patrolman in the violent standoff that followed, and is told that the woman, her daughter, and the criminal existed only in his imagination. Declared insane in his murder trial, Starks is sentenced to a mental institution run by Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson), who seems to believe that the more brutal the treatment, the better. As Starks suffers frequent beatings and long spells in a frozen locker, his mind drifts from his harrowing past into the future, where he visits with Jackie (Keira Knightley), who once was the young girl Starks tried to help. The Jacket also features Jennifer Jason Leigh as Dr. Lorenson, a compassionate doctor who tries to help Starks and his fellow patients. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Here, Maybury is just arty for art's sake, filming entire scenes in close-ups so big that viewers leave the theater knowing way more than they ever wanted to about the lead actors' bridgework.
Pic begins as a potentially intriguing study of the depersonalizing effects of warfare, only to end up a pastiche of time-travel and psycho-ward movie cliches.
There's nothing wrong with a little vicarious experience when you go to the movies, but the director seems to think that his supernatural psycho thriller has to drive you crazy, just to get what it's like to be really insane.
There's nothing wrong with a little vicarious experience when you go to the movies, but the director seems to think that his supernatural psycho thriller has to drive you crazy, just to get what it's like to be really insane.
A solid attempt to wrestle with some big questions. The cast is exemplary and the premise and script are well reasoned and artful. But it doesn't quite come together.
Tadjenin seems to draw inspiration from two books: "10 ways to copy 12 Monkeys" --a far inferior read to "10 ways to write 12 Monkeys"-- and "Common Sense: A Stranger"
The only real scares here take place as images in Brody's head when he hallucinates under Dr. Becker's treatment. The rest of the film has a somewhat sappy quality to it and doesn't deliver any suspense or thrills of any kind.
A really great concept that was intriguing from start to finish. Knightley's accent was believable and performances from all were impressive. However it did seem a bit underdeveloped as if it needed more time in pre-prod and the ending was ridiculous. No way would those doctors put him in the jacket when blood was
pouring from his head just because he told them to. If they hadn't have put him in there then maybe he could have survived to see Jackie again properly.
October 20, 2011
Sophie Burgess
Super Reviewer
A strange film with a great cast. A sort of mix of 12 Monkeys and the Butterfly effect, but sadly no where near as good as either of those films. The pacing seems slow, the story leaves a lot unexplained and at times it's just a bit dull. A real shame given the concept and cast, this had potential.
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