After recuperating from a gunshot wound to the head, Gulf War veteran Jack Starks (Adrien 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. With no idea how he dies or who kills him Jack goes on a journey to try and discover his fate and with the help of Jackie hopefully together, they can find a way to save him from his fate.

This is one of those “what the %$&*” kind of movies that if you ever sat down and tried to dissect it the movie logically would probably fall to pieces. This happens with most time travel movies, some do it well Terminator, Donnie Darko some do it horribly Timeline for example. The Jacket does it very well, no we’re not talking Donnie Darko good but the movie does an excellent job of entertaining you all the while it never really truly explains how the time travel is possible. To me this can actually be a good thing; too many movies become mucked up in their own explanations of how things work and why they work. Sometimes its nice to have a movie like the Jacket that doesn’t even really bother to explain how it works just rather lets you know that it works, plain and simple and move on with the story. That is this movie in a nutshell sure there are times you will go “what the %$&*” all the while entranced by what is happening on the screen.

I am truly beginning to have an appreciation for Adrien Brody as he is one heck of an actor and he truly just mesmerizes you when he is on screen. The reason the Jacket works is because of Brody who carries the movie with his acting and makes you feel for Jack Starks and wonder if he will manage to get out of the mess he has gotten into. Keira Knightley on the other hand I have come to the conclusion is just eye candy, he parts are rarely very broad nor does she have the ability to carry a movie, she is just fun to look at while the other actors make the movie enjoyable. She just coasts through the Jacket, while Brody is the one who makes you interested in it and wanting more. The Jacket was highly enjoyable with plenty of faults as well as graces, but still worth a viewing or two.
4 stars out of 5