Film Review: The Jacket

Sometimes you'll see a movie that makes you scratch your head and wonder what the hell's going on (in the same way the lead actor is in the picture!). Before I went to see this film, I had read about it, and got the sense that this would be one of them. I was thus pleasantly surprised and pleased by the Jacket, directed by the British filmmaker John Maybury.

It is about a man (Adrien Brody) who serves as a soldier in the Gulf, and following a headshot wound, 'dies' momentarily on the battlefield. Sent home to recuperate, he gets involved in a bizarre set of incidents, about which he remembers little, and subsequently gets accused of murder. He is sent to a mental hospital where his unorthodox treatment involves being strapped into a straight-jacket and placed into a morgue drawer under the influence of some heavy hallucinogens.

It is inside the drawer that the director gets to show off his style - here we have some disturbing cutting and random noises that add to the disjointed nature of his confined hell. Another strange thing happens; he starts getting visibility of the things that happened to him, and also a view of the future that helps him to piece together the years between his imprisonment and the future.

The experiences he has in the future are intriguing and guide him to the truth of what happens to him. In this respect, the film has a thriller feel about it; some sleuthing amidst all the disjointedness. In the future, he also has a relationship with Jackie (Keira Knightly), a girl he met years before, and she helps him unravel all the timelines. Their inevitable sex scene didn't work particularly well - the nudity was unnecessary, and it all felt a bit clumsy and awkward. Despite the obvious lack of chemistry between them, there are bigger questions about why Jackie would bother helping him in the first place.

That aside, the performances are strong throughout. Adrien Brody is excellent as the patient; he convincingly carries the driven haunted look of a man who discovers his fate in installments. His subtle quirkiness works best in the hospital, where he twitches and sweats his way through all the medication and the drawer episodes. His doctor, played by Kris Kristofferson, is creepily understated, and deserves merit for appearing misguided rather than unhinged (as we'd prefer to believe).

If you can avoid picking holes in the plot, or focussing too much on fathoming it out, the spectacle is a very enjoyable one. It is classily underwritten by a very atmospheric Brian Eno score. As a psychological thriller, it is different to most others, and it has a level of weirdness that keeps your attention throughout. 7.5/10