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 pear shaped when a cop pulls them over and is murdered by the stranger. The vet. is wrongly accused of killing the cop and lands up in an asylum. A quack doctor prescribes a course of experimental therapy, restraining him in a heavy duty straight jacket-like device, and locks him away in a body drawer of the basement morgue. During course of his treatment he gets flashbacks and visions of his future , where he can foresee he is to die in four days time. The catch is he doesn't know how. Thus commences the classic race against time.

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Plot Keywords:

child uses a gun | child | gun | morgue | shot in the head | 

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Taglines:

the first one is hard, then comes easy

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality/nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Pandasia Entertainment [Taiwan] Warner Bros. [United States]

Country:

Germany USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 March 2005 (USA)

Also Known As:

Regresiones de un hombre muerto

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, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$6,303,762, 18 December 2005

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,046,858, 18 June 2006

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

During filming of the key flashback scene, where Angelo Andreo (Babak the Iraqi boy) shoots Adrien Brody (Jack Starks) in the head, the boy is actually aiming at extra Tom Burke, who played the Humvee gunner. Adrian Brody, realizing he wouldn't actually be on-camera for that shot, had escaped to his trailer for a break.

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Goofs

Footage and audio in the title sequence is taken from Apache gunship footage from the Iraq War, not Gulf I.

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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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Connections

Features I Love Lucy: The I Love Lucy Christmas Show (1956)

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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

Best movie I have seen in a long time

Rented this movie, and I have to say, its one of the best films I have seen in along time. It's a complex story line, where paying attention is key, probably makes even more sense the second time around. I almost teared up at the end, not 'cause it was sad, but because it was beautiful, and compelling, a must see movie. You may think this movie won't be good, but don't brush it off, 'cause it's officially on my top 5 favorite movies list.

Adrien Brody delivers a awesome performance worthy of an Emmy. If there is one movie you should rent this year, it's The Jacket.

Great movie!