Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Sign of the times that we live in that Hollywood can turn any subject into formulaic banality, even when handed an example of pure brilliance from another century.

I have a feeling since winning an Oscar in 2002, Adrien Brody has been a little disappointed in his career trajectory. Bad choices, bad management? Or it may be that he wants to do unusual films. Who knows?"The Jacket" from 2005 is a very good film, however, which also stars Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson, and Jennifer Jason-Leigh. Brody is Jack Starks, who served in Iraq and is killed, except as they're about to put him in the freezer, he blinks. After a long recovery, he is out on his own and hitches a ride with someone. When they are stopped by the police for driving too slowly, the man kills the cop and Jack is injured. The man cleans his gun and throws it in Jack's direction. Then he takes off. Unfortunately, when Jack recovers, he doesn't remember anything about the accident. All he remembers is that he helped fix the truck belonging to a drunken woman, who was with her little girl. No one believes him.After a trial, he is found not guilty by reason of insanity and placed in a mental institution. There, he is given an experimental treatment (that actually was banned in the '70s) and overmedicated. During the treatments, he remembers things from his past...and also is able to go into the future, where he learns something disturbing.Really good film, part thriller/part drama, based on a 1913 book by Jack London which actually had to do with the prison system. Brody is sympathetic as a good man caught in traumatic and unspeakable circumstances. Knightley, as a bitter waitress who drinks, is excellent, as are Kristofferson and Leigh as doctors, one cold and clinical and one concerned and empathetic. One more thing that knocked me for a loop. One of the men in the institution, Rudy MacKenzie, drove me crazy. Black hair, American, not great skin, fast talker, and clearly unstable. He looked SO familiar to me, yet I couldn't place him. I thought, this guy is someone famous but I don't know where I've seen him. I can guarantee you won't either. And as it happens, this is the second time I've seen him in something where I didn't recognize him at first. I didn't look at the cast list ahead of time. Don't do it and see if you can figure it out.

A film could not be better.But I was scanning the after-titles, and find it very BAD of the producers to NOT include Jack London, as holder of the original idea.You named the film after him. The Jacket". Adrian Brody got the name "Jack". But our good author from the beginning of the last Century, Jack London, and his novel "The Straightjacket" where a guy travelled in time, did NOT get any credit. That's unprofessional, really.....Anyway. Adrian, miss Scottish as me Knightley (I fell in love...) Kris Kristofferson, and all the rest grand players, a big thank you for being you and having your great talents developed./Lawrence

being that some of my favourite movies are Donnie darko ,open your eyes , the butterfly effect and the machinist and also a fan of Psychological and especially time travel movies (back to the future my favourite movies ever ) I decided I check this movie out .I watched it twice in a couple of days and the second time I appreciated more the time travel concept and I found it Extremely enjoyable and more important that it makes sense .ok some faults you will find (Jennifer Jason leigh hasn't aged a year and looks more beautiful in 2007)but if you look deeply in every movie some sort of fault you will find even in the greatest masterpieces. if you love Psychological/time travel/mystery movies you must check this one out .