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The Jacket (2005)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:154
Fresh:68
Rotten:86
Average Rating:5.4/10
Consensus: The Jacket is a case of creepy style over substance.
Runtime: 1 hr 43 mins
Genre: Thriller
Synopsis: Oscar-winner Adrien Brody (THE PIANIST) stars in THE JACKET, an intense psychological thriller about a Gulf War veteran who finds himself trapped inside another terrifying scenario. Shot in the... Oscar-winner Adrien Brody (THE PIANIST) stars in THE JACKET, an intense psychological thriller about a Gulf War veteran who finds himself trapped inside another terrifying scenario. Shot in the head while in Iraq, Jack Starks (Brody) has returned home only to be convicted of a murder that he didn't commit. Still reeling from his wartime trauma, Jack is found not guilty by reason of insanity and is committed to an institution for the criminally insane. Once there, he is drugged by the evil Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson) and placed into a coffin-like drawer on a nightly basis. Inside the drawer, after being tormented with horrific war flashbacks, Jack is mysteriously transported to the future, where he forms a tender relationship with the hardened, beautiful Jackie (Keira Knightley). Aware that he is destined to die in four days, Jack must use his new gift to figure out what happened to him, with the hopes of altering the course of history. Directed by John Maybury (LOVE IS THE DEVIL), THE JACKET features another electrifying performance from Brody. Acclaimed artist Brian Eno contributes a transcendent score, which contrasts beautifully with Peter Deming's stark cinematography. As the weary Jackie, Knightley proves once again that she's more than just a pretty face. [More]
Starring: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Daniel Craig, Kris Kristofferson
Starring: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Daniel Craig, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kelly Lynch, MacKenzie Phillips, Brad Renfro
Director: John Maybury
Director: John Maybury
Story: Marc Rocco
Screenwriter: Massy Tadjedin, Tom Bleecker
Producer: Steven Soderbergh, George Clooney, Peter Guber
Composer: Brian Eno
Studio: Warner Independent
Reviews for The Jacket
Part of the fun with twisty time-travel movies is in trying to figure out what's going on and The Jacket delivers nicely on that score, keeping you guessing till the end.
It doesn't really hold together on a logical level, but it's fascinating and powerfully emotional.
Ultimately it doesn't amount to much, but like Starks' drug-induced trip, The Jacket is about the journey not the destination.
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.
I appreciate the way the story is developed, taking audiences into The Twilight Zone, but not leaving them stranded there.
Make no mistake, this movie is terribly silly, but it's not completely terrible.
Maybury is an artist in addition to a director and it's clear that he has an eye for colour, which he uses cleverly to reinforce emotion.
Starts out like a ball of jittery fire ... but becomes increasingly, distressingly square as it nears the homestretch. Its theory could stand a little more chaos.
Maybury – ...with help from Brody's terrific sympathetic performance – takes us on a trip with its own emotional logic.
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.
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