Can a restrictive straitjacket unlock the secrets of time travel in this psychological thriller?
In short: In the 2005 film The Jacket, a Gulf War veteran finds himself trapped in a psychiatric facility, subjected to an experimental sensory deprivation treatment. Bound in a straitjacket, he discovers an unsettling ability to jump fifteen years into the future, where he attempts to alter the tragic fate of a woman he once met.
Directed by John Maybury, the film stars Adrien Brody as Jack Starks, a veteran who returns to Vermont in 1992 after surviving a head wound. Following a murder charge he cannot recall, Starks is institutionalized. Under the care of Dr. Thomas Becker, he is forced into a controversial procedure: drugged, restrained in a straitjacket, and confined within a morgue drawer. This sensory deprivation triggers his temporal displacement, allowing him to visit 2007, where he encounters an older version of Jackie, a girl he previously helped on a roadside.
The narrative is loosely inspired by Jack London’s 1915 novel, known as The Star Rover in the United States and The Jacket in the United Kingdom. London’s work was itself based on the real-life experiences of Ed Morrell, who endured the brutal use of straitjackets at San Quentin prison. While the film’s development spanned years—involving various producers like George Clooney and Steven Soderbergh—the final script shifted from a prison-based murder mystery to a psychiatric drama centered on the protagonist’s attempts to save his own life and improve Jackie’s future.
Critics were divided upon the film's release, with many noting its atmospheric style but questioning its narrative substance. Roger Ebert, for instance, praised the commitment of the lead actors but felt the film suffered from the common pitfalls of time-travel storytelling. Despite a modest global box office performance of approximately $21.1 million, the film remains a notable entry in the science-fiction genre, drawing thematic comparisons to the 1962 French featurette La Jetée, which also explores the intersection of memory, sensory deprivation, and time.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: The Jacket
- Also: Wikidata — The Jacket · CC0
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