The Jacket
|
List Price: Category: DVD See more DVD releases |
|---|
(Click here)
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
Movie Reviews of The Jacket
Movie Review: How did I miss this?
Summary: 5 Stars
Out of the proverbial left field, this movie ended up in my husband's vast dvd collection. I'd never heard of it. He popped it into the dvd player and I found myself immediately engrossed in the slow unfolding of a wonderfully played tale. This Adrien Brody guy is fascinating to watch; I don't know why I don't hear about him more often (see 'Dummy'). Now, I love myself a good time-travel story, and I think giving you that much information may already be too much, because you should discover it on your own. Also, I am capable of nit-picking my way through an implausible film unmercilessly (see 'Stigmata'), but this story was very easy to swallow, and it was quite engaging. I found myself thinking about it days afterward, which is the hallmark of a good film for me. If you need explosions and big action to keep you in the moment, then this probably isn't for you. But if you can be patient and allow a story to unravel itself through strong characterizations and simple dialogues, I think you will be satisfied. Movie Review: Not Bad, but Not Great either
Summary: 3 Stars
The Jacket brings to the screen the story of a Persian Gulf War veteran who ends up in an asylum for the criminally insane for a crime that he didn't commit. However, all is not what it seems in the mental hospital...
In short, the acting is pretty good, the plot is interesting (if not far fetched), while the dialogues are average and sometimes below average.
In a nutshell, it's probably not a movie you would want to add to your collection, but it will provide for an evening's entertainment, and that's about it; it lacks that extra something to put it over the top. No masterpiece here.
Movie Review: VERY GOOD, NOT GREAT
Summary: 4 Stars
I've yet to watch a great film of this category (Siesta, Jacob's Ladder, etc) but it is enjoyable to see how adept Mr. Brody is and how beautiful Keira Knightley is.
To say it is boring or worse than another in this category is wrong. You have to watch half of it to get interested in the characters, it takes that long in this film. Rent it or buy it but watch it (more list at bardoworld.com).
Movie Review: Familiar Theme, Slightly Confusing Results: Good Showcase of Adrian Brody's Acting Talent
Summary: 3 Stars
For all the familiar premises of quasi-time traveling and `what if' scenario, and its (intentionally) confusing conclusion, `The Jacket' still is worth your time simply because it has Adrian Brody. If the film falls short of more skillful narrative of other mind-boggling thrillers like, say, `Memento,' Adrian Brody shines as the tormented hero of the film, whose body (or mind) travels back and forth between the two years - 1992 and 2007.
Arian Brody plays Jack Starks, a veteran solider who just returned from the Gulf War after receiving a near fatal injury in the head. Actually, he was once thought dead, but he miraculously comes back to life. As if his `first death' (so he calls) is not enough, however, Jack experiences another terrible incident after meeting a little girl and her mother (Kelly Lynch) on the snowy road, and a young car driver (Brad Renfro) who picks him up.
Arrested for the death of a police officer, Jack, who denies the charge, is sent to a mental institute, where Thomas Becker (Kris Kristofferson) gives him a very radical treatment. Put in a straitjacket, Jack is locked in a small drawer in a morgue-like basement room.
And a strange thing happens. Jack finds he is in the year 2007, and after meeting a lonely and beautiful woman Jackie (Keira Knightley), he knows that he - I mean, Jack -- died on January 1st, 1993 - only a week after he was first put in the drawer. How did (or will) he die? And how can he save the lives of those who had died during the lost 15 years?
Jennifer Jason Leigh appears as doctor who gives Jack a help, and Daniel Craig as one of the inmates in the institute.
[CONFUSING, BUT GETS BETTER AS IT UNFOLDS] So, did you get the story? I'm afraid not, but keep watching. The film's earlier part is rather confusing and unnecessarily repetitious, and it lacks enough explanation to engage the viewers' attention. `The Jacket' takes too much time to set up its rules, and the rules themselves are not particularly original. The film attempts to include as many potentially intriguing themes as possible in less than 2 hours, but fails to fully utilize its ideas. Consequently, some behavior of the characters looks unreasonable, especially when Jack tries to explain his identity and motives to the people in 2007. And its obligatory love scene is very disappointing.
[ADRIAN BRODY'S FILM] `The Jacket' is a showcase for the talent of Adrian Brody, who can so easily and effortlessly embody the central character's tragic life. One strange thing is the film is directed by John Maybury, British director whose films I thought are art-house films. I don't know whether or not he is the first choice of Steven Soderbergh, one of the 19 producers of the film (including George Clooney), but I am not sure that Maybury is the right director to handle the material even though obviously his name had attracted such names as Keira Knightly and Daniel Craig, the latter being seen in the same director's "Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon."
`The Jacket' is not a fast roller-coaster ride of `Butterfly Effect.' It aims for something slower, and perhaps more intelligent, without losing its value as entertainment. The result is a curious mixture of `Twilight Zone' and love romance. Though it is not a great success as either of them, it is more interesting than other films with similar topics.
Movie Review: I fell asleep during The Jacket.
Summary: 1 Stars
The Jacket is the dumbest, pointless war flim I have seen! Adrien Brody and Keira Knightley are terrible in this film. Knightley's American accent is weak. I don't understand this film at all, I can't even explain the plot, so I'm not going to try. Stay clear of The Jacket, you'll thank me later.