The Jacket (2005)
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A Gulf War veteran with amnesia discovers he can travel into the future while undergoing experimental sensory deprivation treatment.
The story
After surviving a fatal head wound in the Gulf War, veteran Jack Starks returns to Vermont in 1992 suffering from amnesia. While traveling, he forms a bond with a young girl named Jackie. However, Starks is soon found near a dead policeman and, due to his memory loss, is incarcerated in a mental institution. There, he is placed under the care of Dr. Thomas Becker, who subjects him to an unauthorized experimental treatment involving sensory deprivation. During these sessions, Starks begins to experience the ability to travel into the future, leading him to seek a way to alter his circumstances and save his life.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Gulf War veteran Jack Starks returns to Vermont in 1992 with amnesia after a head wound. He meets a girl, Jackie, and her mother, but is later found near a dead policeman and committed to a mental institution. Under the care of Dr. Thomas Becker, Starks undergoes experimental sensory deprivation in a straitjacket, which allows him to travel 15 years into the future. He meets an older Jackie, who doesn't recognize him, and learns he died in 1993. Starks and Jackie eventually try to use this time travel to save his life. A subplot involves Dr. Beth Lorenson treating a child with ECT. Knowing his time is running out, Starks is briefly released by Lorenson to deliver a letter to Jackie's mother, warning her of a tragic fate. Starks then returns to the hospital, suffers a flashback, and is put back into the jacket. He returns to 2007, finding that his letter changed Jackie's life for the better. Jackie, now a nurse, meets him again, and they drive together as the film ends with a question about how much time they have left.
- First release year
- 2005
- Runtime (minutes)
- 103
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Maybury
- Writers
- Massy Tadjedin · screenplay; Tom Bleecker · story; Marc Rocco · story
- Cast and characters
- Adrien Brody · Jack Starks; Keira Knightley · Jackie; Kris Kristofferson; Jennifer Jason Leigh; Kelly Lynch; Brad Renfro; Daniel Craig
- Genres
- science-fiction; psychological thriller
- Themes
- Time travel; Memory loss; Consequences of war
- Tone and mood
- Psychological; Supernatural
- Setting
- Vermont in 1992, 1993, and 2007
- Premise and plot tags
- Time travel; Amnesia; Psychiatric hospital; Veteran
- Source material / true-story basis
- The Star Rover (1915 novel by Jack London)
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics.
- Reported review scores
- Metacritic · score: 44% · review count: 35; Chicago Sun-Times · score: two out of four stars · scale: four stars
- Production trivia
- The initial draft of the film followed a Vietnam veteran framed for murder in a prison farm.; The production switched from a prison farm setting to a psychiatric hospital.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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