TORTURE, TIME TRAVEL AND LOVE ALL FIT IN 'THE JACKET'.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Critic A SLICE OF gothic horror that bends genres as willfully willfully adv. referring to doing something intentionally, purposefully and stubbornly. Examples: "He drove the car willfully into the crowd on the sidewalk." "She willfully left the dangerous substances on the property." (See: willful) as it bends time, ``The Jacket'' works best if you turn off your mind, relax and let Adrien Brody's jittery paranoia fill you with dread. Keira Knightley is here, too, which is encouraging to anyone who feared that she wouldn't be able to escape the movies of Jerry Bruckheimer, another plane of horror containing terrors more frightening than anything you'll find in ``The Jacket.'' Director John Maybury wants to disorient dis·o·ri·ent tr.v. dis·o·ri·ent·ed, dis·o·ri·ent·ing, dis·o·ri·ents To cause (a person, for example) to experience disorientation. Verb 1. you from the get-go, assaulting you with a barrage of loud sounds, distorted colors and shaky imagery. The idea is to get you into the fragile head of Jack Starks (Brody), who takes a bullet to the brain in the Persian Gulf War Persian Gulf War or Gulf War (1990–91) International conflict triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Though justified by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on grounds that Kuwait was historically part of Iraq, the invasion was presumed to be and somehow survives, only to come home and wind up in a mental ward. Jack stands accused of murdering a highway patrolman. Last he remembers, he was walking up a snowy Vermont road, stopping to help an alcoholic mom and her little girl (their truck was stalled) and then shooting the breeze with a stranger who gave him a ride. He didn't kill a cop. At least he doesn't think so. Dr. Becker (Kris Kristofferson) thinks he did, and he slams Jack into a straitjacket straitjacket /strait·jack·et/ (strat´jak?et) informal name for camisole. strait·jack·et or straight·jack·et n. and then into a morgue morgue (morg) a place where dead bodies may be kept for identification or until claimed for burial. morgue n. drawer. Says the sadistic sa·dism n. 1. The deriving of sexual gratification or the tendency to derive sexual gratification from inflicting pain or emotional abuse on others. 2. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from cruelty. Becker: ``I want to reset your violent proclivities and peel away your layers of hate.'' Jack freaks out and finds himself moving forward in time, meeting old friends and new 15 years into the future, and learning that - back in the past (or present or whatever you want to call it) - he's going to die soon. Maybury and screenwriter Massy Tadjedin work hard to throw you off-balance, but all the misdirection MISDIRECTION, practice. An error made by a judge in charging the jury in a special case. 2. Such misdirection is either in relation to matters of law or matters of fact. 3.-1. doesn't add up to much. Becker's torture seems intended to evoke the modern-day abuses at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, but the film drops that idea quickly and morphs into an otherworldly love story about second chances, minus the Righteous Brothers and Whoopi. Brody manages to sell even the silliest moments, bringing a strong conviction to an undeserving enterprise. It bodes well for ``King Kong.'' If Brody can keep a straight face here, imagine what he'll be able to do opposite Peter Jackson's great ape great ape one of the larger monkeys, usually the tailless ones; includes gorilla, orang-utan, chimpanzee. . Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com THE JACKET - Two and one half stars (R: violence, language, brief sexuality/nudity) Starring: Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley. Director: John Maybury. Running time: 1 hr. 42 min. Playing: Selected theaters. In a nutshell: Adrien Brody's talent and conviction make this genre- bending, time-travel movie less of a horror show. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Adrien Brody is a Persian Gulf War veteran who gets into trouble back home in ``The Jacket.'' |
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