Synopsis
After Gulf War veteran Jack Starks survives a roadside shooting, he is wrongly convicted of murder and confined to a psychiatric institution. Subjected to an experimental treatment involving a straitjacket and a morgue drawer, Jack begins traveling into the future, where he encounters an older version of a woman from his past. Desperate to change their fate, he searches for answers across time.
Factoids & Trivia
- The film is partly based on Jack London's 1915 novel The Star Rover, known in Britain as The Jacket. London's story drew on accounts from Ed Morrell, a prisoner at San Quentin who endured severe straitjacket confinement.
- Adrien Brody prepared for the role by spending time in an isolation tank, doing prison exercises, and following a high-protein diet.
- Brody's distress during the body-drawer sequence was reportedly genuine. He asked to remain locked inside between takes to deepen the character's sense of helplessness.
- The psychiatric hospital scenes were filmed at the former Bangour Village Hospital in West Lothian, Scotland, an abandoned medical complex that had previously served as a real hospital.
- Brian Eno composed the film's original score, contributing to its subdued, disorienting atmosphere.
- The Jacket premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2005, before its United States theatrical release on March 4, 2005.
- Made on a reported budget of approximately $28.5 million, the film earned about $21.1 million worldwide and received mixed critical reviews.