The Jacket (2005)

The Jacket

It's amazing what the mind can do.
Or maybe it was the gunshot wound?
Or maybe it was the drugs?
Or maybe it was science?
Or maybe it had nothing to do with any
of them?
The explanations for what was happening and why are never really touched on. The

Rated R

____

By Todd Karella
March 4, 2005

While Jack is horrified by his treatment, he finds that there is a strange side effect. Whenever he is in the drawer, he finds himself being transported 15 years into the future.
Not only has he traveled in time, but he finds himself with Jackie Price (Keira Knightley), the same little girl that he helped by the side of the road. Jackie is now a waitress in a diner. She has had to fend for herself after her mother died in a fire, a fire caused because she passed out in bed with a cigarette.
Jack finally convinces Jackie of his true identity, not an easy feat as she tells him that Jack Starks died shortly after being admitted to the asylum.
The two become quite close as they search for the cause of his death. They give Dr. Becker a good scare when they visit him to ask questions. The only help they get is from Dr. Lorenson (Jennifer Jason Leigh) who had a suspicion something was going wrong, but couldn't get him to confide in her to stop the experiments.
Once Jack finds about his own death the film takes a complete turn in the tone and feel. While once it was a creepy, dark, drama, it suddenly becomes a more light-hearted film. Jack and Jackie start to fall in love and Jack looks forward to being put into the drawer.
The film is reminiscent of other films such as Jacob's Ladder and The Butterfly Effect and doesn't do anything new. While the film is certainly entertaining to watch, it's hard to get over that it was pitched as a thriller and doesn't keep up the pretense.

entire concept of time travel, whether it's a loop or a line and possible side effects is never discussed.
While this may annoy some purists, it really didn't affect the enjoyment of

the film. With the ever prevalent topic of time travel being used in a lot of Science Fiction television and films, the audience should have a basic grasp of time travel and its nuances.
Jack Starks (Adrien Brody) is an American soldier fighting in the Gulf War. His service is cut short when a young boy puts a bullet in his brain. This is the first time he remembers dying.
To the medics' surprise Jack comes back to life just as they are about to tag his body. After spending a year in rehab, he is released back into the world with no home, no money and no memory.
During his travels he runs across a woman and her young daughter stranded on the side of the highway. It appears that the mother had a little too much to drink and the two will probably end up freezing unless he can get their truck fixed.
After fixing their vehicle, the mother leaves him stranded alongside the road where he ends up getting a ride from a stranger. When the police stop the two, the driver shoots the officer and leaves Jack unconscious on the road where he gets blamed for the murder and ends up in a psychiatric ward.
While in the facility Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson) begins to do experiments on him. In order to help his patients, the Doctor decides it's best to inject them with drugs, tie them into straight jackets and leave them in the morgue's body drawers.
It's hard to imagine that anyone would think this could somehow help a patient, but the Doctor continues the procedures with the help of the staff.

~A perfect fit, but the same look~