The Jacket

I just finished the movie and it really is a great piece of work. No futuristic crap mixed up though you might expect it. Miss Knightley really does a great job playing the part, though her role seems to have been kept a bit too far in the background.

The whole idea of changing the future has been brought up before, but this time instead of changing the future by altering the past it brings new perspective by altering the present by adding new info from the future. At first it reminded me very much of Butterfly Effect. If you like that one, you'll love this one.

It also shines new light on the subject whether or not you can change your own destiny which hasn't been brought up in a while.

It surely is a "must-see".

First off, this film is not for everyone. It does, however, seem to delineate an emerging and exciting trend in contemporary film making whereby directors are becoming increasingly enamored with these sorts of dark, brooding, almost dreamscape-like and melodramatic thrillers which defy archetypal and conventional narrative formats. Think of the "The Machinist" and work your way backwards to "Vanilla Sky", or even as far back as 1990's "Jacob's Ladder" as one other reviewer accurately suggested.

To this end, "The Jacket" represents the apotheosis of this rising genre, and is both an artistic psychological thriller, as well as what you might call a metaphysical tragedy, and easily envelopes the viewer into its morose and sterile world replete with dreary snow scapes, perpetual grey skies and faces, muted and washed out colours, institutional isolation, and the angst of working class loners. The film's imagery and the pace of the story and script immediately command one's attention from the outset and the film is unrelenting in both its tension and gumption. Because of this, despite the story's meandering timeline and lack of feasible explanations for the protagonist's "visions", the viewer is still to an extent able to believe what they're seeing. Because the film takes itself so seriously, and actually pulls it off, the viewer then buying into the fantasy of the story becomes far more palatable than it does in other misguided attempts at this same sort of risky and artsy storytelling ie: "The Butterfly Effect".

This is an ambitious film which taps into both the romanticism and pain of our dreams and our memories, and how they both act upon us, and cause us to act upon them. It examines what is real versus perceived, the fragility of life, how each persons's life effects others, even passing strangers, and the sovereignty of the self and the mind. The film features outstanding performances from just about everyone on screen, particularly Brody as the hapless and tortured Jack Starks, and Kristofferson as the morally ambiguous and equally tortured Dr. Becker.

Despite the big names on the marquee, however, this, as previously mentioned, is not a cut and dry "popcorn flick" and will leave many people bewildered. It is for these people that the "Butterfly Effect" was made first, and now with them out of the way, the timing for a film of this caliber which deals with these issues properly is appropriate. "The Jacket" is a trippy and entertaining yet still very intelligent film which asks only that you check your preconceptions and logical rectitude at the door. By doing so, you'll find the imagination of this film is fact more real than you might have expected.

Every so often there's a movie that's so hard to describe that it's to picture whether it's your type of movie or not. The Jacket melds about five different genres without falling firmly into any of them. Even to describe it as an 'alternative reality' movie could put off those who think, "Oh, no, not another sci-fi". I wouldn't describe it as sci-fi. There is a love story, but I wouldn't call it that. There's some pretty disturbing shots and dizzying camera work but it's not really a horror film. What can you rely on? A stellar cast for starters: Adrien Brody, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson. All needed as the story is not exactly flawless, but the combined characterisations and sheer ingenuity keep you in suspense and mostly make you want to forgive any shortcomings in this rather ambitious project.

If you like stories nice and simple, stay away. If you like a challenge, The Jacket might fill the bill. It's not quite such a headbanging puzzle as Mulholland Drive, and it doesn't have the cutesiness of Donnie Darko, but it is in the realm of dark, weird and ultimately rather moving experimental film.

Brody is Mr quite nice guy Jack Starks, apparently shot dead at point blank range in the Gulf War - but hang on a minute, his eyelids blink before they pronounce him dead and he recovers - with amnesia but otherwise OK - then he gets committed to an asylum for the criminally insane fro a murder he didn't do, and we're talking 1990s when some pretty strange experimental psychotherapy went on behind closed doors. Enter the old doctor, played by Kris Kristofferson, who looks like he's had one too many acid trips and survived and believes he can think up new treatments for nutters like Jack Starks. During some pretty unconventional (not say unethical by today's standards) solitary 'treatment', Starks sees himself in 2007. The treatment is a combination of drugs and sensory deprivation - a sort of Neanderthal NLP the hard way. Each time he is locked up in 'The Jacket', Starks' projected timeline lets him interact with other characters in his dilemma. It gets continuingly creepier and the tension builds to an ending that leaves you shocked, horrified and filled with warmth at the same time.

The premise of this film is promising, but it has some huge holes in it which cannot be ignored no matter how much you want to 'love' this movie. Brody and Knightley serve the script better than it deserves. The story is too slow to start, but ends in a fragmented hurry. And, while this might be purposeful, by the end it just seems a little too convenient and contrived. Worth watching, but don't employ any critical thinking.

Just saw this at an advance screening. I liked it. Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley carry this film well. Although I have to admit that i was in the front row and watching a cinemascope film like that has one turning their head from left to right a lot. I recommend the star rover novel to read to anyone who likes this film. It was published in 1913, one of londons last books. it dealt with how the prison system at the time would strap people in straitjackets so tight that it would cause damage. The hero of the book comes to desire the tightening of the straps to the point where the guards have not seen, in order for him to more spiritually transcend his mind and soul into another life. He jaunts into other existences, all past, ie napoleon battle, viking conquest, to free his mind from the pain. The Jacket takes this idea in a way where the hero goes to a place that is involved in the plot running in the present.