Thriller - Director: John Maybury - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Daniel Craig, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh more
Oscar-winner Adrien Brody (THE PIANO) stars in THE JACKET, an intense psychological thriller about a Gulf War veteran who finds himself trapped inside another terrifying scenario.... more
The Jacket [DVD]
When you put onThe Jacket, prepare for a head-trip into fragmented reality. Coproducer ... more
Steven Soderbergh might have fared better with this mind-bender than British director John Maybury (who indulges an excess of heavy-handed "style"), but it's intrigu...
The Jacket DVD
1991: Jack Starks a U.S. Marine Sergeant serving in the Persian Gulf War receives a ... more
near-fatal gunshot wound to the head. Although he recovers the incident leaves him with shock-related amnesia. After his release with nowhere to go Starks who has...
The Jacket
After recuperating from a gunshot wound to the head, Gulf War veteran Jack Starks (Adrien ... more
Brody) returns to his native Vermont suffering from amnesia. When he is accused of murdering a police officer and committed to a mental institution, a physician, Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson), puts him on a controversial treatment regimen in which Starks is injected with experimental drugs, confined in a straight-jacket, and locked for extended periods in the body drawer of the basement morgue. In his drugged and disoriented state, Starks' mind propels him into the future, where he meets Jackie (Keira Knightley), and discovers that he is destined to die in four days. Together, they search for a way to save him from his fate.
The Jacket [DVD]
When you put onThe Jacket, prepare for a head-trip into fragmented reality. Coproducer ... more
Steven Soderbergh might have fared better with this mind-bender than British director John Maybury (who indulges an excess of heavy-handed "style"), but it's intriguing enough to hold your attention as Gulf War veteran Jack Starks (Adrian Brody) sustains a head-wound that results in amnesia and fragmented timelines. One involves Jack's apparent killing of a policeman, after which he's institutionalized and subjected to straight-jacketed experiments in sensory isolation (with Kris Kristofferson as the doctor in charge); the other is a possible future involving a nihilistic waitress (Keira Knightley) with connections to his past, and the discovery that Jack will die in four days if he can't solve the brain-teasing puzzle he's fallen into.The Jacketaspires to the cleverness ofMementoand falls short of that target, but Brody gives this exercise in desperate disorientation a certain gravitas that keeps you watching as his tormenting visions begin to unravel. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Brad Renfro and Kelly Lynch make the most of their small supporting roles.--Jeff Shannon, Amazomn.com
Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: K.C. Bascombe - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Jesse James, Rachel Skarsten, Charles Powell, Linda Purl, Kevin Zegars
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Thriller - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Timothy West, Neil Morrissey, Tara Fitzgerald, Annette Crosbie, Pauline Quirke, Rob Brydon, Denise Van Outen, John Thomson, Kevin Whately, David Suchet
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Production Year: 2002 - Thriller - Director: Matt Dillon - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Matt Dillon, James Caan, Natascha McElhone, Gerard Depardieu, Sereyvuth Kem, Stellan Skarsgard
A review by wendybull on The Jacket (DVD) October 25th, 2006
Author's product rating:
Did you enjoy it?
Liked it
Story
Good
Characters / Performances
Good
Special Effects
Good
How does it compare to similar films?
Good
Advantages:
Good thinking film, Adrien Brody
Disadvantages:
None
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Jack Starks is shot in the head during the Gulf War, where he is serving in the military. Escaping death, he is discharged under medical reasons suffering bouts of amnesia. Hitchhiking through Vermont he comes across a broken down truck. The mother is wasted and throwing up all over the roadside while her young daughter stands there helplessly waiting for someone to come along. Jack fixes the car and gives his dog tags to the enchanting little girl, Jackie, just before her mother bundles her into the car and they drive off leaving Jack behind.
Later another driver picks him up and they head off. Not long after they are pulled over by the police, who is unfortunately shot by said driver and due to Jack's bouts of amnesia he is set up as the shooter. His trial concludes he is not guilty by reasons of insanity and he is sent to Alpen Pines institution for the criminally insane.
Dr Thomas Becker is assigned to look after him and unbeknownst to some of the other staff there he is conducting relentless, sadistic experiments on the patients. They are taken to the basement and strapped into a urine stained straightjacket, after being pumped full of drugs. Following this they are slapped on a table and pushed into a body box drawer in the morgue. Jack's first experience is not a pleasant one and he panics and gets very upset, eventually coming out in a sort of comatose state, staring at the ceiling.
Many other sessions follow of this nature and Jack begins to have flash forwards to his future. On the 26th December 1992 he is put in the drawer and in his dream/flash forward he meets up with an alcoholic young woman, who turns out to be Jackie, the little girl he met by the side of the road. This is how he realises he is in the future. However when Jackie informs him he actually died on 1st January 1993 and he is experiencing life in 2007, he realises he has some things to find out about his death in order to save himself and anyone else he can help along the way.
With four days in which to get answers, he enlists the help of Dr Lorenson in the asylum in 1992 and Jackie in the freedom of 2007. Will he still die and how or who makes it happen? Will he change Jackie's lonely alcoholic future or will it all be in vain?
##THE CHARACTERS##
Adrien Brody plays Jack Starks and I had not seen him in any other film (yet to see King Kong!) although he has been in plenty. I was really impressed with his acting and the casting here as at one point Colin Farrell was originally considered for this role and it would have been so wrong. Brody is so right for the part with his looks and height. He is not conventionally good looking yet brings a real attraction to the character. Starks is drugged up a lot of the time and Brody pulls this off with ease. Eyes rolling back and so on seem to come easy to him.
The tension and claustrophobia of the morgue drawer scenes are amazing. He gives you enough fear and rejection of the drawer in the initial scenes to make you realise the terror he is feeling inside. Some of the scenes inside the drawer actually made me take in great lung fulls of air as it had made me feel so enclosed and claustrophobic that I felt the need to breath really deeply sitting on the settee! Brody's acting in these scenes is second to none, and in one scene when he breaks down and cries, this actually real as he had asked the director to lock him up in the drawer even in between filming to get it as realistic a feeling a possible. He did break down for real in the end and this was caught on camera and used.
Kiera Knightley is huge at the moment and she brings the almost gothic character of Jackie to us in this film. She is full of despondence about life and although she wants to help Jack when she first meets him in 2007, until she realises and accepts who he is she wants him to keep his distance. She is living a hellish life, following in her mothers alcoholic footsteps and her future is not looking that rosy. Kiera obviously didn't mind looking rough for the shots of her as an alcoholic, although with someone who has such a beautiful face it is hard to dampen her down too much. In terms of acting, she good a good job although I don't think she was as good as Brody. Then again her scenes were nowhere near as harrowing or complex as Brody's.
Jennifer Jason Leigh and Kris Kristofferson play the two doctors at the asylum. Leigh plays Beth Lorenson the concerned carer of Stark. Stark gets her on board by telling her how to deal with situations in her personal life, that he could not have known about unless he had seen the future. I'm not keen on Leigh as an actress, although she is not rubbish but there is something missing for me. Maybe it is the roles she plays but she always seems to come across as a bit flat to me, however this does not detract from the brilliant acting from others in the film. Kristofferson plays the evil and sadistic Dr Becker, responsible for locking them in the drawers to begin with. I think he is brilliant. His deeply lined face makes you believe he has so much wisdom and experience but any that is lurking there is just used in awful experiments of rehabilitation on the patients he has been entrusted to look after. His eyes are very haunted and hooded and whether this is normally how he looks I am unsure but for this film especially during the end scenes it is a brilliant way for him to across.
##OVERALL OPINION##
This film was the kind that you keep expecting there to be an explosion of action but it never comes. It is a thinking film and I really loved it. Confusion is certain for the first time watcher to begin with, but this is easily overcome once things become clearer and everything you've seen that was confusing will be remembered and will fall into place quite easily. It is complex but easy to watch at the same time. Brody and Kristofferson were the best for me but there were no "bad" actors or acting in this film.
For me this was one I would like to watch again as I am sure there are things that I could pick up from it and see in a new light or that had not been noticed before when it is watched second time round.
We rented this from Screenselect so there were no special features or extras to tell you about but you can buy it from Amazon for £8.97, which I am sure you will agree, will not break the bank.
Thanks for reading. xx Summary: Excellent story, great acting
Advantages: If you like a thinking film, then this is the film for you. Disadvantages: Quite difficult to understand in some parts.
The Jacket staring Keira Knightley playing Jackie and Adrian Broody playing Jack Starcks, provides a thrilling film with an exciting and mind boggoling story-line. Jack returns from the Gulf War 12 months later having been shot in the head with a gun by an Iraqi orphan, he experinences 2 life changing events; first he meets the young Jackie and her mother on the side of a road as their truck has broken down. Jack fixes the truck and gives Jackie ... ...stranger, they get stopped by the police and the stranger shoots the policeman and then puts the blame on Jack. Jack then goes to trial although we do not see this and instead of being put in prison for the policeman's murder, the court decides that Jack should be put in to a mental hospital where he can undergo tests. Whilst in the comfort of his bed, late at night he is taken away and tranquilised and put in a straight jacket and taken to the basement ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: Thought provoking, great one liners, great acting, good story Disadvantages: Too short for both parts. Maybe there should have been 2 separate films?
...Written by Stanley Kubrick, Michael Herr and Gustav Hasford, and directed by Stanley Kubrick Full Metal Jacket (?FMJ?) is a film about the Vietnam War that was released back in September 1987.
I have never really been one for DVD extras and bonus features and would prefer to see the feature film only. Therefore this is a review of the film only and I will not comment on any of the extras that are available on the DVD.
****Plot****
FMJ starts in a Marine Corp training camp in Paris Island, South Carolina, USA in the 1960s. A young group of conscripts arrive and after having their identities taken away, along with the obligatory headshave, begin their gruelling training for the Vietnam War. During their time at the camp the new platoon remain under the scrutiny of Drill Sergeant Hartman (R Lee Ermey) and after the first encounter...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Great story, excellent acting, great effects Disadvantages: May be too hard to watch for some
...little details. Say that though it was still very watch able. The rest of the film was shot on location showing us the war in Vietnam. I found the scenery and sets to be very authentic and they all looked great and not out of place.
The effects in the film were good and made for some good viewing during the war scenes. I found that a lot of time and effort were put into these and the creators of them deserve a lot of credit. Some of the wounds which the soldiers got during battle looked so real that they actually made me feel slightly sick! The music thought out the film was good and very appropriate for the places in which it was used.
The DVD which we have does have some bonus features which includes:-
Commentary by Adam Baldwin, Vincent D?Onofrio, R lee Ermey and Critic/Screenwriter Jay Cocks
New Featurettes ?Full metal Jacket...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Acting, sets and special effects. Disadvantages: Where did the end go???
...◊^^^Synopsis^^^◊
Full Metal Jacket is Stanley Kubrick?s painful depiction of the lives of new marine trainees as they go through training, graduate and finally end up in Vietnam. A large proportion of the film focuses on the harsh and inhumane training designed to dehumanize people and turn them into, with the help of the demoralising D.I (Lee Ermey), into indestructible killers for the benefit of the United States, men without fear. The D.I?s treatment to the trainee?s is so brutal that some can?t take anymore of the mental hardship. Whilst exploring both the physical and mental suffering of marine trainees the films main focus is on one man, ?Joker? (Matthew Modine).
After graduation most of the new marines end up in Vietnam and then the film takes a more direct view point as it follows Joker as he is released into...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Plot: Oscar-winner Adrien Brody (THE PIANO) stars in THE JACKET, an intense psychological thriller about a Gulf War veteran who finds himself trapped inside another terrifying scenario. Shot in the head while in Iraq, Jack Starks (Brody) has returned home only to be convicted of a murder that he didn't commit. Still reeling from his wartime trauma, Jack is found not guilty by reason of insanity and is committed to an institution for the criminally insane. Once there, he is drugged by the evil Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson) and placed into a coffin-like drawer on a nightly basis. Inside the drawer, after being tormented with horrific war flashbacks, Jack is mysteriously transported to the future, where he forms a tender relationship with the hardened, beautiful Jackie (Keira Knightley). Aware that he is destined to die in four days, Jack must use his new gift to figure out what happened to him, with the hopes of altering the course of history. Directed by John Maybury (LOVE IS THE DEVIL), THE JACKET features another electrifying performance from Brody. Acclaimed artist Brian Eno contributes a transcendent score, which contrasts beautifully with Peter Deming's stark cinematography. As the weary Jackie, Knightley proves once again that she's more than just a pretty face.
Release details
DVD Region: DVD
Studio(s): WARNER HOME VIDEO; CINRAM LOGISTICS
Release date: 12/09/2005
No of Discs: 1
Catalogue No: D 033685
Barcode: 7321900336857
Languages
Main Language: English
DVD Description
Oscar-winner Adrien Brody (THE PIANO) stars in THE JACKET, an intense psychological thriller about a Gulf War veteran who finds himself trapped inside another terrifying scenario. Shot in the head while in Iraq, Jack Starks (Brody) has returned home only to be convicted of a murder that he didn't commit. Still reeling from his wartime trauma, Jack is found not guilty by reason of insanity and is committed to an institution for the criminally insane. Once there, he is drugged by the evil Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson) and placed into a coffin-like drawer on a nightly basis. Inside the drawer, after being tormented with horrific war flashbacks, Jack is mysteriously transported to the future, where he forms a tender relationship with the hardened, beautiful Jackie (Keira Knightley). Aware that he is destined to die in four days, Jack must use his new gift to figure out what happened to him, with the hopes of altering the course of history. Directed by John Maybury (LOVE IS THE DEVIL), THE JACKET features another electrifying performance from Brody. Acclaimed artist Brian Eno contributes a transcendent score, which contrasts beautifully with Peter Deming's stark cinematography. As the weary Jackie, Knightley proves once again that she's more than just a pretty face.
Technical information
Special Features: Additional Scenes, Alternate Endings, The Jacket Project History, The Look Of The Jacket Featurette
Aspect Ratio: 2.40 Wide Screen
Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
Dubbing Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround English
Professional reviews
Review: This has got everything. It's peculiar, exhausting and fascinating (News Of The World, )
A mind-blowing experience... you'd be mad to miss this great movie. (The Sun, )
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Listed on Ciao since : 14/11/2005
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