Change Your Image
damcdono
Reviews
The Jacket (2005)
An Absolute Disaster
This movie was absolutely awful.
Adrien Brody was a not a good choice for the lead role. With his prancing walk (the same as in his Diet Coke commercial) and annoying passivity he could not realistically portray a Gulf War veteran with a mental disability.
Even worse were the gigantic plot holes. I love watching movies and I understand that at times it is necessary to suspend disbelief and accept the film world as its own reality. This was impossible in this movie. How does Brody's character time travel? How is his actual body n the future? What is the process? Why are the doctor's torturing him?
There seems to be an entire scene missing at one point in the movie. We see Knightley's character screaming at Brody's to leave her apartment and the next we see them together is at a diner where Knightley's character has helped do some research for him. How did they get to this point? when did she agree to help?
Brody's character's crime and trial is so disjointed and impossible to follow that there is no way to know what is going on. Shouldn't we find out what really happened? Doesn't it make sense that if Brody knows info that could help exonerate him that he would use it?
Knightley gets naked in this movie, something I normally would be very happy to see, but the nudity was unnecessary and seriously disappointing from a good young actress like Knightley. The nudity and sex scene had NO real point. Nudity can add to a movie when it serves some purpose within the plot, but when it is there for no reason we have to wonder if the producers just thought this would sell a few more tickets!
The ending was "happy" but would the film and story would have been better served with a bit more realism. It would have been a better ending to have Brody's character die and then find out that what he accomplished during his time helped Knightley and her mother have a better life. Instead we get a fairytale ending where the bad guys get their due and the good guys live happily ever after.
Some people who saw this at festivals may have seen a different film because I would recommend they burn all the prints and scripts so no one else wastes $8 on this movie.
I wouldn't even recommend this on video!
Almost Heroes (1998)
Funny
This is the kind of movie you need to watch more than once to appreciate. I'd never go so far as to say this is a "good" movie, on the contrary, its a very bad movie, and thats what makes it funny. No one seems to be able to appreciate the humor in the poor writing and acting that make this movie hilarious. Watch Farley's battle with the eagle a few times and you'll see the humor. Watch the gauntlet with creamed corn and tell me thats not funny because of its sheer ridiculousness. I say people need to lighten up and respect this movie for what it is, a harmless farce that allows for some cheap laughs at physical humor and absurd dialog.