The Jacket (2005): **

The Jacket is far more concerned with its stylistic choices than what it is all about, which the film itself seems unsure of. The Jacket follows Jack Starks (Adrien Brody), an ex-soldier suffering from amnesia, caused by a shot to the head. After a series of incidents, Starks ends up accused of murdering a cop and is committed to the mental institution Alpine Grove. Physician Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson) subjects Starks to a controversial course of drugs, restraints and is locked in a drawer of a morgue cabinet. Jack Starks appears to travel to the future, where he meets a woman called Jackie (Keira Knightley). Starks discovers he is going to die in four days, unless they can figure out a way to save him.  

Massy Tadjedin clearly had a lot of ambition in her screenplay, but ultimately The Jacket is a confused mess. At first, it starts off as a psychological examination on the effects of war. Then it becomes a look into the barbaric practices in mental institutions. This is smashed together with a time-travelling thriller, to see if the future can be changed. It is partially ditched to focus on the sentimental romance between Jack and Jackie. Slapped on is the possibility that the events might all be in Starks’s imagination or dream. At this point, the audience doesn’t care anymore and would happily take the mind-altering drugs Starks is subjected to, if only to relieve some of the tedium from watching this film. 

In The Jacket’s cinematography, there are a lot of extreme close-ups of eyes and mouths, particularly of leading man Adrien Brody. It is unclear if it was director John Maybury’s artistic choice or if cinematographer Peter Deming was simply in love with Brody’s eyes (frankly who could blame him?), using every opportunity he had to zoom in on them. There is a heavy emphasis on the snowy landscapes of Vermont, with scenes often fading back into the icy roads, and the long lines of frosty trees towering over the characters. Harsh greens, rapidly intercut with memories, dazzle the audience whenever Starks is having a flashback or a flash-forward. 

Adrien Brody is all tears and teeth, crying and brooding in one scene then grinning maniacally at evil orderlies in the next. Intensity is Brody’s specialty and he sticks firmly with it in The Jacket, although perhaps the film would have benefitted if the cast went loose with it. Keira Knightley manages to inject some life into her one-note ‘damaged woman’ role of Jackie, although at times Knightley does overact slightly. Kris Kristofferson as Dr. Becker enjoys shooting steely looks at his employees and mysteriously appearing from behind well-placed nurses. 

Convoluted and dull, The Jacket's only saving grace is its cast.