The Jacket (2005)

Not-bad if derivative psychodrama, reminiscent of Jacob's Ladder except with naked Keira Knightley instead of demons. Adrien Brody goes a long way towards grounding this thing in the realms of the believable; Ms. Knightley isn't nearly as effective but I give her credit for trying at least. John Maybury's biggest directorial talent may be an extraordinary penchant for imitating the work of others, to the point where it passes ripoff and moves into loving recreation -- his last film Love is the Devil had as its only asset a striking visualization of what moving Francis Bacon portraits would look like, and here he cops a David-Fincher-by-way-of-Stan-Brakhage visual style that not only suits the sterile mileu but also adds a new and interesting edge to the flashback portions. Gets better as it goes, eventually revealing itself as a study in contradiction (sometimes we must hurt to heal, die to understand life, etc.); just generally worth a look, really.

Grade: B-