The Jacket | ||||
John Maybury Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kelly Lynch, Brad Renfro, Daniel Craig, Jason Lewis, Steven Mackintosh, Mackenzie Phillips 2005 |
Having already secured an Oscar for his portrayal of the title character in the World War II drama "The Pianist," Adrien Brody can dabble where he pleases. "The Jacket," mixing psychological thriller with sci-fi flick, finds Brody in the role of Jack Starks, an Army veteran just home from the first Gulf War and burdened by things that are much worse than post-traumatic stress disorder. Accused of a crime he didn't commit, Jack is incarcerated in an insane asylum, drugged by a mad doctor (Kris Kristofferson) and put into isolation. That's when things get really weird. While in nightly lockdown, Jack slips forward in time to the year 2007, where he meets a lovely, embittered and strangely familiar young woman (Keira Knightley of "Pirates of the Caribbean") and learns some disturbing news about his fate. Time-travel paradoxes abound, and Jack tries to navigate through them. Brody earns sympathy with his portrayal of hard-luck Jack, but "The Jacket" is hampered by its threadbare, holey internal logic. There is also some serious over-acting by various members of a cast that includes reputable thespians such as Jennifer Jason Leigh, Kelly Lynch, Daniel Craig and Brad Renfro. Perhaps the script's implausibilities led them to disregard restraint. As a genre film that wants to intrigue and divert its audience, "The Jacket" is stylish enough. It's just nowhere near as sharp as its makers wanted it to be. | |||
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