The Jacket

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

One cursory glance at Anna Nicole Smith's career arc, and it's clear that we love watching crazy people—unfortunately, the headcases in The Jacket are just as loaded on painkillers as Smith, but not nearly as interesting. (Or bosomed.) The loony we're to follow here is Jack Starks (Adrien Brody), a Gulf War I veteran who's framed for murder and sentenced to life in the nuthouse. His treatment there consists of straightjacket bondage and hours locked in a morgue basement body drawer. In solitude, Jack apes Ashton Kutcher in The Butterfly Effect and travels through time—both back to the scene of the murder and forward to a mysterious loner (Keira Knightley)—and discovers he's about to die. The concept provides some jolts early, but as the plot unfolds, it's clear we're headed for a bewildering finale. Even an over-the-top performance by Brody (how do you overact when you're locked in a coffin?) and flashes of Knightley nudity will have trouble saving The Jacket from the rejection pile at Goodwill.