The Jacket (2005)

A Gulf war veteran is wrongly sent to a mental institution for insane criminals, where he becomes the object of a doctor's experiments, and his life is completely affected by them.

Director:

John Maybury

Writers:

Tom Bleecker (story), Marc Rocco (story)

Stars:

Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Daniel Craig

1 win & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Adrien Brody	...	Jack Starks
Keira Knightley	...	Jackie Price
Kris Kristofferson	...	Dr. Thomas Becker
Jennifer Jason Leigh	...	Dr. Beth Lorenson
Kelly Lynch	...	Jean Price
Brad Renfro	...	The Stranger
Daniel Craig	...	Rudy Mackenzie
Steven Mackintosh	...	Dr. Hopkins
Brendan Coyle	...	Damon
Mackenzie Phillips	...	Nurse Harding
Laura Marano	...	Young Jackie
Jason Lewis	...	Officer Harrison
Richard Dillane	...	Captain Medley
Jonah Lotan	...	Intern #1
Angel Coulby	...	Intern #2

Storyline

The film centers on a wounded Gulf war veteran who returns to his native Vermont suffering from bouts of amnesia. He is hitching and gets picked up by a stranger, things go wrong when a cop pulls them over and is murdered by a stranger. The vet is wrongly accused of the killing and lands in an asylum. A disreputable doctor prescribes a course of experimental therapy, restraining him in a modified strength straight jacket-like device, and locks him away in a cadaver drawer in the basement morgue. During the course of his treatment, he gets flashbacks and visions of his future where he can foresee that he is to die in four days time; He just doesn't know how. And thus commences the classic race against time for this tortured veteran with an expiration date.

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Plot Keywords:

psychological experiment | strait jacket | time travel | child uses a gun | child | 

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Taglines:

the first one is hard, then comes easy

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality/nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Keira Knightley credits the food poisoning she had during her audition for landing her the part of a sickly alcoholic.

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Goofs

When Jack is picked up by the Stranger, he speaks to him through the passenger side window, but when he gets into the car, the window is closed.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jack Starks: [Walking over to Iraqi child who's breathing hard] How's it going little man? You all right?
[Babak pulls out gun. Jack puts his hand up in a stop gesture but Babak shoots Jack in the head. Jack falls to the ground]

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Alternate Versions

There are 2 continuations to the last scene where Jackie gives Jack a ride and the sun shines behind them. In one version, we hear Jack screaming as Dr. Becker gets him out of the drawer. In the second Version, we see Jack has really died in Iraq.

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Connections

References Mothlight (1963)

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Soundtracks

Spoken Word Recording of Noam Chomsky
Taken with permission from the Audio CD "American Addiction"
Copyright AK Press

User Reviews

Brilliant!

Awesome movie with interesting plot and outstanding actors.

Reading the plot description one could make the mistake and expect some rather low quality B "action" flick.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Out comes an outstanding movie which will capture you from the beginning to the end, guaranteed.

Its not your typical action-flick or cheaply made horror movie by any means.

Adrien Brody again proves he is probably one of the best actors we have currently, in my opinion he is just phenomenal. He gives the story depth and credibility. Kira's performance was "ok", not much too say here (sexy as always of course) and Daniel Craig and Kris Kristofferson did a great job also.

I watched the movie and it immediately became one of my favorites.

Highly recommended! G.

Kira's performance was "ok"

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Jacket

Filming Locations:

Bangour Village Hospital, Dechmont, West Lothian, Scotland, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$29,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,723,682, 6 March 2005

Gross USA:

$6,303,762

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$21,733,230

Company Credits

Production Co:

Mandalay Pictures, Warner Independent Pictures (WIP), 2929 Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min 94 min (TV)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1